“There's an ethic that says: 'You don't run off to the church for the sacraments of salvation, you establish a personal relationship with God. You don't run off to the courts for justice, you settle it yourself. You don't run off to labor unions to sort out your work relations, you can take this job and shove it if you don't like what you're doing.” IfsRunningJobsChurchJusticeEthicsLaborRelationCourtSalvationUnionsSettlingSacramentsRelationship With GodPersonal RelationshipsLabor UnionPersonal Relationship With God Author:John Shelton Reed
“Christians should emphatically be campaigning for justice for the poor - but the Church is not a campaign.” ShouldChristianChurchJusticePoorCampaignsCampaigning Author:Rowan Williams
“It was before Vatican II and the liberalization of church doctrine. You weren't meant to eat meat on Friday in deference to Christ, who died on Friday. If you did, you went to hell, . . That way, Hitler would be in hell alongside someone who ate meat on Friday. I thought there was no justice there.” IfsWayWould BeChristChurchJusticeHellDiedDoctrineMeatFridayDeferenceVatican Ii Author:Christopher Durang
“Every institution places its ultimate weight on preserving its own life. That is why the Church emphasizes loving God over loving one's neighbor.... The push for justice on the other hand might be at the center of the Gospel but it also attacks the balance of power in the society. Since the rich always exploit the poor, to give the poor power, dignity and humanity makes them less pliable, less cooperative.” GivingHandsMightHumanityChurchJusticePoorChristianityRichBalanceDignityUltimateWeightInstitutionsNeighborExploitsLoving GodCooperativesBalance Of Power Author:John Shelby Spong
“We are not engaged in domestic politics, in church building or in social uplift work, but we are engaged in nation building.” CultureNationsSocialChurchJusticeBuildingDiversitySocial JusticeUpliftingEngagedNation BuildingChurch Buildings Author:Marcus Garvey
“Where is the justice of political power if it executes the murderer and jails the plunderer, and then itself marches upon neighboring lands, killing thousands and pillaging the very hills?” IfsWisdomPoliticalChurchJusticeLandKillingCorruptionHillsMarchJailMurdererPolitical PowerPillaging Author:Khalil Gibran
“All of our punishment institutions, including jails, laws, church confessionals, and so forth, are systems of illusion. The order of the universe, the infinite justice of yin and yang, naturally takes care of all motion and compensation. We don't need to invent arbitrary ways to make balance with punishments.” WayNeedsCareLawOrderUniverseChurchJusticeBalanceIllusionInfiniteInstitutionsIncludingTake CarePunishmentJailArbitraryCompensationInventingYangYin And Yang Author:Michio Kushi
“The church of this country is not only indifferent to the wrongs of the slave, it actually takes sides with the oppressors.... For my part, I would say, welcome infidelity! Welcome atheism! Welcome anything! in preference to the gospel, as preached by these Divines! They convert the very name of religion into an engine of tyranny and barbarous cruelty, and serve to confirm more infidels, in this age, than all the infidel writings of Thomas Paine, Voltaire, and Bolingbroke put together have done!” WritingCountryDoneAgeTogetherNamesSidesChurchJusticeAtheismDivineSlavePositive AtheismTyrannyCrueltyWelcomeEnginesIndifferentInfidelityPreferenceOppressorsInfidelPaine Author:Frederick Douglass
“In South America euphemism appears to be the grisly preserve of violent power. 'Liberty' was the name of the biggest prison in Uruguay under the military dictatorship, while in Chile one of the concentration camps was called 'Dignity.' It was the self-styled 'Peace and Justice' paramilitary group in Chiapas [Mexico] that in 1997 shot 45 peasants in the back, nearly all of them women and children, as they prayed in a church. What have the souls of the south done over the past few decades to deserve quite so much liberty and dignity and peace and justice?” ChildrenSoulSelfDoneAmericaPastNamesLanguageChurchJusticeLibertyViolenceGroupsMilitaryShotsDeserveDignityPrisonSouthDecadesViolentOppressionPreservesConcentrationCampsMexicoDictatorshipPeasantsOver The PastPeace And JusticeChileSouth AmericaConcentration CampEuphemism Author:Isabel Fonseca
“I'm absolutely, utterly, and completely certain that God wouldn't be homophobic. I'd much rather go to hell - I really would much rather go to hell - than go to a homophobic heaven.” WisdomCertainReligionPoliticsHeavenCommunityLeadershipChurchJusticeClassHellEqualEthicsHuman RightsSeparationIdeologyEqual RightsCivilityDisobedienceChurch And StateSeparation Of Church And StateCivil DisobedienceGo To HellHomophobic Author:Desmond Tutu
“Politics is noble; it is one of the highest forms of charity, as Paul VI used to say. We sully it when we mix it with business. The relationship between the Church and political power can also be corrupted if common good is not the only converging point.” IfsWisdomRealityFormPoliticalUsedPoliticsCommunityLeadershipChurchJusticeMoneyCommonPolicyHighestEthicsCapitalismStrategyCharityHuman RightsNobleSeparationIdeologyChurch And StateSeparation Of Church And StateCommon GoodPolitical Power Author:Pope Francis
“Those called to the service of governance in the church need to have a strong sense of justice, so that any form of injustice becomes unacceptable.” NeedsFormStrongChurchJusticeInjusticeGovernance Author:Pope Francis
“Jesus doesn't just want songs. He wants justice for the people on planet Earth.” PeopleWantEarthChristianSongJesusLeadershipChurchJusticePlanetsPlanet Earth Author:Louie Giglio
“Paul's vision, though, is starting small, with actual communities in which reconciliation and justice has to be practiced - like the rich/poor distinction in the Corinthian church, for instance, or the projected reconciliation between Philemon and Onesimus. But he clearly believes (Ephesians 3) that communities like this send a signal to the wider world that Jesus is Lord - which is aimed at then the whole world coming into line.” WorldBelieveWholeJesusCommunityChurchLinesJusticePoorVisionLordRichStartingWhole WorldInstanceDistinctionSignalsReconciliationRich PoorCorinthiansEphesians Author:N. T. Wright
“The 20th century was a turning point; it freed and emancipated women, broke the back of segregation, and began the struggle to give justice to gay and lesbian people. But the Christian church, in both Catholic and Protestant forms, resisted every one of those humanizing developments. The church was on the wrong side of all three of those fights.” PeopleGivingChristianFormFightingThreeSidesChurchJusticeStruggleCenturyDevelopmentGayCatholicBroke20th CenturySegregationProtestantsTurning PointsChristian Church Author:John Shelby Spong
“It didn't seem to have relevance, except in Central America or South America, countries where the church was connected to the fight of the people for economic justice. That's why it was so interesting to find myself back with Sister Helen [in Dead Man Walking], this new breed of nuns who were making a difference in the community.” PeopleMenCountrySeemsAmericaFightingCommunityDifferencesChurchJusticeInterestingEconomicWalkingSouthConnectedMaking A DifferenceRelevanceNunDead ManSouth AmericaHelenEconomic JusticeCentral America Author:Susan Sarandon