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Social Justice


crusader1234

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Guest Eremite

[quote]A 'just wage' according to my text book is enough to support a family. [/quote]

Yes, a "just wage" is also referred to as a "living wage". Nevertheless, what actually constitutes a "living wage" is a prudential judgement. The Church admonishes us on the general necessity of a living wage. It is up to us to decide, based on the social and economic context of our own society, what exactly this will mean in concrete terms.

Catholic spirituality has legitimate diversity. Some people and groups have a heavy focus on social care. Their apostolate is to work extensively in these areas. Other people and groups have a heavy focus on theological/ecclesiastical care. Those who focus on social care do not ignore theology and the Church, by any means. But they give a special witness. Ditto with other groups. I'd imagine that most people on Phatmass have no yet ventured into social care in an extensive manner. The Liturgy and the faith are what young people encounter on a personal, daily level. The corporal works of mercy have always been a universal standard of reference for all Catholics, as have the spiritual works of mercy. Mother Teresa and Thomas Aquinas were both Saints; but they had radically different vocations.

But, I think it's good that you remind us of the need for social care. I'm not poor, and so poverty is not on my mind every day. If it were, I imagine I would have particular affection for poverty apostolates. But no matter our particular emphases, all Catholics should try to live a balanced life of Faith, Hope, and Charity.

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EcceNovaFacioOmni

[quote name='crusader1234' date='Jun 17 2005, 09:56 PM']Word, same here.
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It was a decent book, I didn't have any problems with it. I thought it could have been more "to-the-point" maybe. I don't like the publisher though, St. Mary's Press. They produced our garbage Bible textbooks from freshman and sophomore year ([u]Jesus of History, Christ of Faith[/u] & [u]Written on Our Hearts[/u]).

Edited by thedude
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[quote name='crusader1234' date='Jun 17 2005, 08:55 PM']And as for corporate boycotts, I'm not sure if you were trying to insult me but I've never howled about it.  I'm pretty sure I've called for boycotts myself of things like blood diamonds from Africa.  The only time I've ever argued against somebody about a morality boycott was when I said that the company had most likely considered the economic benefits/losses  which is hardly a howl.
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My remarks about "howling about corporate boycotts" did not refer to you.

Maybe I was being a bit unfair, as I don't recall specifically the people complaining about the boycotts calling specifically for more attention to economic justice (however, some were generally criticical of "conservatism").

Peace

Edited by Socrates
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wage wage wage... if there must be a wage it ought to be enough for one person to support his entire family. but minimum wage shouldn't be where any bulk of jobs should exist. should the minimum wage set by the government necessarily be a living wage? not necessarily... I really don't know. I can't think within the socialist or capitalist systems... I think people should have the oppurtunity not just to have this "living wage" but to own their own means of production. that's ultimately what Rerum Novarum is about... and social justice is ultimately about the restoration of Christendom. anything less is compromise with modernity... which is all well and good to help people survive day by day i guess

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crusader1234

[quote name='Eremite' date='Jun 17 2005, 09:04 PM']Yes, a "just wage" is also referred to as a "living wage". Nevertheless, what actually constitutes a "living wage" is a prudential judgement. The Church admonishes us on the general necessity of a living wage. It is up to us to decide, based on the social and economic context of our own society, what exactly this will mean in concrete terms.

Catholic spirituality has legitimate diversity. Some people and groups have a heavy focus on social care. Their apostolate is to work extensively in these areas. Other people and groups have a heavy focus on theological/ecclesiastical care. Those who focus on social care do not ignore theology and the Church, by any means. But they give a special witness. Ditto with other groups. I'd imagine that most people on Phatmass have no yet ventured into social care in an extensive manner. The Liturgy and the faith are what young people encounter on a personal, daily level. The corporal works of mercy have always been a universal standard of reference for all Catholics, as have the spiritual works of mercy. Mother Teresa and Thomas Aquinas were both Saints; but they had radically different vocations.

But, I think it's good that you remind us of the need for social care. I'm not poor, and so poverty is not on my mind every day. If it were, I  imagine I would have particular affection for poverty apostolates. But no matter our particular emphases, all Catholics should try to live a balanced life of Faith, Hope, and Charity.
[/quote]

Thank you, I think you've understood what I'm saying. While I completely aknowledge that some people are called to serve Christ by making sure that Mass is carried out properly, I think that there is a huge number of people out there that are ignoring their call to show love to eachother. And you know, the Missionaries of Charity spend almost all their time working with the sick and poor, but that doesn't change the fact that almost [b]all[/b] Nuns do some sort of community service albeit to lesser degrees. Not that many Phatmassers seem to aknowledge this call to serve those in need. I'm not poor by a long shot, but I've been educated by Jesuits (one of which actually worked with Mother Theresa in India) and thanks to them I'm aware of the issues and my responsibilities - and I think more light needs to be brought to this area on Phatmass. I thank Phatmass to no end for helping me understand my faith in a lot of areas regarding sin, Sacraments, Marian devotion, liturgical stuff, etc...and I think its time Phatmass also looked at how its members can serve Christ in serving others.

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well... I always thought I'd end up focused on some abstract mystical religious prayer and such project... you know something liturgical or devotional or something...

but here I am puttin down money on something that I believe will really help work for social justice... in the same economically radical spirit Rerum Novarum came from. I forget where I saw it, but I believe the USCCB somewhere said something about supporting micro-enterprise as a powerful tool against poverty. anyway, me making this marketplace is an act of social justice. it's not one of those run-of-the-mill non-profit organizations to help the poor, but it's still under that category. It's available to help people in any state of life.. because even if you have a good paying job you still aren't as free as a medieval serf can be said to have been with the ability to own that with which you work to make a living.

anyway, I'm very concerned about social justice. I just go about it a lot differently than most people.

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ihspress is an awesome source of social justice teaching

[url="http://www.ihspress.com"]http://www.ihspress.com[/url]

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