Social Justice Is Not Actual Justice

It’s Chicago, right? So no one should be surprised that two university professors (Ralph Martire and Gina Harris) at Roosevelt University (a private college in Chicago, IL), who are also, by the way, members of the Oak Park and River Forest High School school board, were caught bragging on a Zoom meeting that they proudly teach social justice in their classrooms. But there they were, doing exactly that in all their glory.

And as far as the school is concerned, that is perfectly okay. When it became publically known that these professors had bragged about teaching social justice to their classes, the school’s Vice President of Marketing, Nicole Barron, issued a statement that the school has supported “social justice and inclusion” since its founding.

Well, who could be against justice, right? After all, one of America’s founding principles is “liberty and justice for all.” It is right there in the pledge of allegiance to the American flag.

There is only one small problem though, social justice and actual justice are not the same thing. Social justice warriors try to promote their brand of “justice” in a way to make it seem that they are simply promoting long standing American ideals, when in fact they are doing just the opposite.

One of the tactics of Marxist ideologues (which social justice advocates are) is to take words associated with a society’s traditions and redefine them to mean something entirely different. The trick they use, though, is to use these words based on their new definition without telling anyone that they have changed the definition. The word “justice” is one of those words.

Traditionally, the concept of justice has involved the administration of law according to the principles of just behavior. But in order for that to happen there has to be some broadly agreed upon standard of exactly what comprises right principles and just behavior; in other words, an objective standard by which to implement justice.

The objective standard in American law has always been “equal justice under the law” – equal application of every law toward every citizen. That means that every person, no matter their status or station in life, is judged by the legal system using the exact same criteria. To be sure, there are plenty of cases where this ideal has not been met, but the ideal is the standard. And based on that, corrections are supposed to be made when inequities are discovered. This is the approach to “justice” that is the basis for American law.

Social justice, on the other hand, does not advocate for equal justice under the law. Rather, it identifies various groups that it considers to be “disadvantaged” in some respect, and attempts to correct those perceived disadvantages by somehow punishing those who are deemed to be their “oppressors,” then providing special privileges for those deemed disadvantaged. So justice, based on this definition, is not for everyone, but for the special groups that are deemed to be disadvantaged.

Thus, social justice is not actual justice. It is a Marxist concept that is specifically designed to create conflict as a tactic, in order to advance society toward some nebulous ultimate utopia. But rather than promoting actual justice, it promotes injustice towards certain segments of society and calls it justice.

The Bible in no way sanctions the notion of social justice. Based on biblical teachings, the belief about justice is based on how God views justice. He is the one who has revealed what is right and wrong, and he judges equally based on that standard – He is “no respecter of persons.” The American legal system has mimicked that notion by instituting the ideal of “equal justice under the law.”

There is no doubt that there are people who are not receiving equal justice. But the cure for that is not to institutionalize injustice against different groups. The cure is to make sure that equal justice is actually implemented. Until that ideal can be instituted, there will never be any real justice at all.

Freddy Davis is the president of MarketFaith Ministries. He is the author of numerous books and has a background as an international missionary, pastor, radio host, worldview trainer, and entrepreneur. Freddy is a graduate of Florida State University with a BS in Communication, and holds MDiv and DMin degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a popular speaker, particularly on the topic of worldview and its practical implications for the Christian life. He lives in Tallahassee, FL, with his wife Deborah.

You may also contact Freddy at Leadership Speakers Bureau to schedule him for speaking or leadership engagements.

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