Friday, November 14, 2008

What is Justice?

Posted by Leona Bergstrom

For the next three weeks the class I attend on Sunday mornings will be addressing the issue of Justice. This week's was a fascinating discussion as we tried to actually define what justice is. The teacher led us through some noble attempts by well-known philosophers such as Aquinas, Augustine and Aristotle.

We could describe what we thought injustice looked like, but actually defining justice was hard.

Injustice is defined as an abuse of power (International Justice Mission). Injustice wreaks havoc and destruction on individuals, communities and nations.

It's hard to define justice, but it is easy to recognize it when it is in action. I saw justice at work recently at a fund-raiser for Agros International. This organization's mission is "to see rural poor families own agricultural land, attain economic self-sufficiency, realize their God-given potential, and pass on to future generations the values and resources that enable them to flourish."

Agros is working at bringing justice to people whose lives have forever been impacted by the injustice of civil war, genocide, and corrupt power. I'm both awed by and proud of Agros and its efforts.

No comments: