justice is real
God is just.
What a statement! Look around. How can things be just, or fair in a world of such inequity? Social, racial, economic inequality is rampant all around the globe. As far as we think we've come, we are still quite "un-civilized", "backward", and even "barbaric" as a species. However, we have grown wise and sophisticated in our means of oppression and war. Of course, all of this just adds to our inequities, rather than alleviate them.
Then, there are interpersonal inequities to face. Nature and nurture have betrayed us into unequal people. My DNA predisposes me to an alcoholic life, yours may have made you too short, or too round, and now you face ridicule and belittling, whether aloud or only in the minds of others, all of your days. Or, a man's father beat him, a woman's uncle sexually abused her for years. Emotional scarring creates serious disadvantages in a person longing to mature into a balanced adult with full opportunities.
Finally, there is just plain, fluke accident. My friend has only one working limb due to an auto accident. The other three are senseless. Or, there is my cousin whose brain was permanently damaged--her short term memory is tragic, and her personality was truly altered--in another auto accident, weather induced. Where is justice? Where is fairness? Damaged people--mentally, emotionally, physically or behaviorally--are not equally suited for success in life. They do not have the same opportunities.
Ayn Rand and the Bible have taught me the answer to this question. Mrs. Rand claims, in The Fountainhead, that a person's worth or meaning is found in his work. What a man ought to do is find his true passion and work at it with all he has for his own pleasure. In this, he will find himself.
Ok, I say, but what of those who are born into a situation where they are not allowed to pursue their passion, or never receive an education wherewith they can determine their passion? Are they forever doomed to idiocy and a meaningless life? Or, what do we say about the girl in the newspaper this week, born with muscular dystrophy and terrible scoliosis? If her passion was ever anything physically demanding, she is useless. Or, what of my friend who desires so strongly to be a high school counselor, but got himself a felony record as a kid? He will never be allowed to work in his field of passion. Is he useless?
Absolutely not, and here's why: It is not our deeds that define us. It is our being. "God's blessing makes life rich, nothing we do can improve on God." We are incapable of making meaning for ourselves. Or meaning is defined by our Maker, and that meaning is being. Being. In relationship, we are and are becoming. This is our purpose, and all of us are capable here. We exist. We are. Thank God.
Be. This is a command all cripples, neurotics, mentally retarded, and emotionally scared can obey. This is the great leveler. What are you? What are you becoming? This is our definition. Here is justice. We are made to be, not to perform.
What a statement! Look around. How can things be just, or fair in a world of such inequity? Social, racial, economic inequality is rampant all around the globe. As far as we think we've come, we are still quite "un-civilized", "backward", and even "barbaric" as a species. However, we have grown wise and sophisticated in our means of oppression and war. Of course, all of this just adds to our inequities, rather than alleviate them.
Then, there are interpersonal inequities to face. Nature and nurture have betrayed us into unequal people. My DNA predisposes me to an alcoholic life, yours may have made you too short, or too round, and now you face ridicule and belittling, whether aloud or only in the minds of others, all of your days. Or, a man's father beat him, a woman's uncle sexually abused her for years. Emotional scarring creates serious disadvantages in a person longing to mature into a balanced adult with full opportunities.
Finally, there is just plain, fluke accident. My friend has only one working limb due to an auto accident. The other three are senseless. Or, there is my cousin whose brain was permanently damaged--her short term memory is tragic, and her personality was truly altered--in another auto accident, weather induced. Where is justice? Where is fairness? Damaged people--mentally, emotionally, physically or behaviorally--are not equally suited for success in life. They do not have the same opportunities.
Ayn Rand and the Bible have taught me the answer to this question. Mrs. Rand claims, in The Fountainhead, that a person's worth or meaning is found in his work. What a man ought to do is find his true passion and work at it with all he has for his own pleasure. In this, he will find himself.
Ok, I say, but what of those who are born into a situation where they are not allowed to pursue their passion, or never receive an education wherewith they can determine their passion? Are they forever doomed to idiocy and a meaningless life? Or, what do we say about the girl in the newspaper this week, born with muscular dystrophy and terrible scoliosis? If her passion was ever anything physically demanding, she is useless. Or, what of my friend who desires so strongly to be a high school counselor, but got himself a felony record as a kid? He will never be allowed to work in his field of passion. Is he useless?
Absolutely not, and here's why: It is not our deeds that define us. It is our being. "God's blessing makes life rich, nothing we do can improve on God." We are incapable of making meaning for ourselves. Or meaning is defined by our Maker, and that meaning is being. Being. In relationship, we are and are becoming. This is our purpose, and all of us are capable here. We exist. We are. Thank God.
Be. This is a command all cripples, neurotics, mentally retarded, and emotionally scared can obey. This is the great leveler. What are you? What are you becoming? This is our definition. Here is justice. We are made to be, not to perform.
posted by Unknown @ 5:32 PM
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