[anthro, religion, soc just] Dr. X on Christianity and Social Justice
Nothing in it was particularly news to me, I thought this blog post about the concept of social justice in Protestantism vs. Catholicism set it out nicely. Excerpt: This is far from the first time I've heard a statement like this. A large subset of Christians sneer at the notion of "social justice" and also complain about religious prejudice. But how many of them know that social justice was originally a Catholic (Jesuit) concept and continues to be an essential part of Catholic teaching? It's not a peripheral teaching; it's a core teaching. Every Catholic parish is supposed to have a peace and social justice ministry. Entire graduate degree programs approved by the Catholic bishops are devoted to social justice. Social justice isn't based on liberalism, it's based on theology and when you sneer, Catholics aren't sneering with you.
Of course, there are large subsets of Protestant Chrisendom in the US which consider "Catholic" an alternative to "Christianity", not subset of it, and would greet such information with the knowing nod of confirmation that Catholics are the Great Satan. So I'm not sure spreading this around is going to increase overall Protestant sympathies for "social justice", as opposed to convince the more reactionary of them further in their prejudice against it.
In any event, credit where credit is due, and an interesting expression of cultural differences.
Of course, there are large subsets of Protestant Chrisendom in the US which consider "Catholic" an alternative to "Christianity", not subset of it, and would greet such information with the knowing nod of confirmation that Catholics are the Great Satan. So I'm not sure spreading this around is going to increase overall Protestant sympathies for "social justice", as opposed to convince the more reactionary of them further in their prejudice against it.
In any event, credit where credit is due, and an interesting expression of cultural differences.