Seven Primary Causes of Tyranny and Why They Are Gaining Support: Part 1 By: Curtis Ophoven 3/5/2010 - 36 Comments The U.S. is on the path to hyperinflation and tyranny as capitalism, individual liberty and freedom are being destroyed.  Your Ad Here The good news is that we can stop the trend and reverse course.  In order to do that we need to understand what the primary causes are that are leading the nation to tyranny. I have discussed the path to hyperinflation at length in other articles, so I’m going to focus this discussion on causes that lead to tyranny.  The tyranny that I’m talking about is a complete loss of freedom and individual liberty as the government becomes the dominate structure that controls everything from our health to our jobs to our homes to our safety to the information to consume to the religion we practice. The result of a tyranny is that the people become slaves to the nation in which they live. Now you may be thinking, we are not as dumb as the nations that fell into tyranny.  It’s easy to think that we are smarter than the nations that fell into the trap of tyranny or that our government structure is superior, but if you read through history the nations that fell into tyranny where some of the most advances and smartest.  Therefore every nation needs to be on the lookout for the signs of tyranny and be aware that it is a slippery slope that is hard to detect – like boiling a frog in water – that results in tyranny.  The reason a tyranny is hard to detect is because the social causes that support a tyranny are easily disguised in such a way that we everyone finds themselves supporting.  Who is willing to say, they don’t support feeding the poor or housing the low income or saving the whales or teaching religion equality or government stimulus to reduce unemployment? Nobody, yet these good intentioned ideas can be used to disguise government policies that lead to tyranny.  Here is the list of the top 7 things that are leading to tyranny; Humanism Social Justice and Economic Equality Environmentalism Socialism Fascism Misguided Pursuit of Personal Value Economic Central Planning These seven things are at the heart of the path to tyranny in the U.S. and they are all currently getting a lot of publicly support.  In part 2 I’m going to explain these 7 leading causes of tyranny in detail to gain a better understanding of the cynical forces behind these ideas – that are supported by seemingly good intentions.   Subscribe via RSS Copyright © 2010 PennyJobs.com. All rights reserved. Related Articles We Desperately Need to Return to a Free Market Banking System Why We Should Not Give More Control of the Economy to the Government What Shape Will the Recession Take? When will the Fiscal Madness Stop? Why Obama's Goal to Reduce Inequality Will Not Work << FREE >> Weekly Newsletter... Signup today and start receiving our free weekly newsletter! Reader Comments Comment 1 Sally Says: on Friday, March 05, 2010 5:11:56 PM You must have a odd definition of Social Justice. My Bible says not to abuse the poor but to take care of them, give them left over food from your fields, water when they thirst, and the shirt off your back. Wilberforce tirelessly advocated for Social Justice in England which ended legalized slavery at the time. King peacefully demonstrated for Social Justice leading to the end of legalized racism. Guttenberg's printing press ended the class Social Injustice of only allowing the rich people an education. Wycliffe translated the Bible from Latin to English allowing the commoners to interface directly with God's Word. There are hundreds of historical examples of how Social Justice improved humanity and ended tyranny. Comment 2 Curt Says: on Friday, March 05, 2010 8:22:33 PM @Sally That's true good things have been done under the term Social Justice. But in recent history, the term has been misused to wage a war against capitalism and the freedom to produce wealth. Just a few years ago under the name of Social Justice, homes were given out to millions of people that could not afford them, which led to the housing bubble that resulted in the greatest recession since the Great recession. This recession will be remembered in history as the greatest amount of wealth lost in the history of the world.  Millions lost there jobs, homes and businesses because of this great misuse of power that was given support under the term Social Justice.  The result of this disaster further empowered the governments ambition for power while forcing millions into dependence on government aid. Comment 3 sally Says: on Saturday, March 06, 2010 11:59:50 AM Using your new definition of Social Justice the USA government should end the tax exemption for churches and other not-for-profit organizations, end the tax exemption for charitable giving, and end the tax deduction for home mortgage interest. All of these are modern day examples of the government making policy decisions in order to encourage behaviors our culture deems valuable and worthwile. The goals of owning one's home and being your own boss are two goals every North American dreams of attaining and governement policies that encourage & promote this vision are good & beneficial for everyone. Just because people were irresponsible and took out mortgages they could not afford or did not do the necessary homework before taking out an ARM is not the governement's fault and is not a form of tyranny. Speaking of social justice, if more churches would step up and help the poor in their congregations and communities the government could get out of the welfare business. Comment 4 edward Says: on Saturday, March 06, 2010 12:16:50 PM Since when is using the earth's natural resources wisely (environmentalism) considered tyrannical? You will not be able to eat sushi or swordfish if the oceans continue to be overfished and polluted. Look at the Hatie side of the Island compared to the Dominican Republic - the Hatians cut down 90% of the trees in their rain forrest and are the poorest nation in the Western Hemishpere whereas the Dominican Republic conserved their side of the Island and have a flourishing tourist industry. If you live in the USA, you probably take for granted the clean tap water you drink. Without pollution laws to prevent the contamination of the aquifiers for your city well, the price of drinkable water would have skyrocketed and you would have wished some tree hugging environmentalist would have lobbied harder for clean water regulations. If environmentalism is taken to an extreme (mother earth worship) or used as a tool to prevent & manipulate competition, then it is no longer true environmentaism but instead becomes a religion. But, this can happen with any cause which is why there are so many cults and false religions in the world today. Comment 5 steve Says: on Saturday, March 06, 2010 12:19:27 PM I highly recommend the book by Marvin Olasky titled THE TRAGEDY OF AMERICAN COMPASSION if you want a better understanding of how the government co-opted Social Justice. Comment 6 Cowboy Slinky Says: on Saturday, March 06, 2010 12:25:38 PM Talk about central planning & environmenatalism run amuck! http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/02/white-house-land-grab/ "...thanks to whistleblowers at the Department of the Interior, we now learn they're planning to increase their control over energy-rich land in the West. A secret administration memo has surfaced revealing plans for the federal government to seize more than 10 million acres from Montana to New Mexico, halting job- creating activities like ranching, forestry, mining and energy development. Worse, this land grab would dry up tax revenue that's essential for funding schools, firehouses and community centers. President Obama could enact the plans in this memo with just the stroke of a pen, without any input from the communities affected by it." "President Obama could enact the plans in this memo with just the stroke of a pen, without any input from the communities affected by it. At a time when our national unemployment rate is 9.7 percent, it is unbelievable anyone would be looking to stop job-creating energy enterprises, yet that's exactly what's happening. The document lists 14 properties that, according to the document, "might be good candidates" for Mr. Obama to nab through presidential proclamation. Apparently, Washington bureaucrats believe it's more important to preserve grass and rocks for birdwatchers and backpackers than to keep these local economies thriving." Comment 7 Under the Big Sky Says: on Saturday, March 06, 2010 12:29:09 PM I am sure the USA federal gov't considers this example of State's rights to be tyrannical! Wyoming House Passes Firearms Freedom Act http://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2010/03/wyoming-house-passes-firearms-freedom-act/ Comment 8 Canuck Says: on Saturday, March 06, 2010 12:44:26 PM Where are those pesky Canadian environmentalists when we really need them!?! Road Salt is Affecting Aquatic Life And Drinking Water Across North America http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/road-salt-killing-fish-hurting-water-supply.php Comment 9 Mo Says: on Saturday, March 06, 2010 12:46:50 PM THIS IS TYRANNY! Kindergarten student suspended for making gun with fingers http://guyism.com/2010/03/kindergarten-student-suspended-for-making-gun-with-fingers.html Mason Jammer, a kindergarten student at Jefferson Elementary in Ionia, curled his fist into the shape of a gun Wednesday and pointed it at another student, school officials said it was no laughing matter. They suspended Mason until Friday, saying the behavior made other students uncomfortable, said Erin Jammer, Mason’s mother. School officials allege Mason had displayed this kind of behavior for several months, despite numerous warnings. “I do think it’s too harsh for a six-year-old,” said Jammer, who was previously warned that if Mason continued the practice he would be suspended. “He’s six and he just likes to play.” [The mother said,] “He’s only six and he doesn’t understand any of this.” Comment 10 Tyranny in the U.K. Says: on Saturday, March 06, 2010 12:50:14 PM POLICE POWERS "Police will have powers to enter private homes and seize posters, and will be able to stop people carrying non-sponsor items to sporting events." http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100303/tts-uk-olympics-london-ca02f96.html You in the States have no idea of the tyranny we face inthe U.K. & Europe in general! Comment 11 Jessie Says: on Saturday, March 06, 2010 1:01:01 PM Indeed, the dark horse of the New World Order is not Communism, Socialism or Fascism. It is Technocracy. http://www.rightsidenews.com/201003038900/energy-and-environment/smart-grid-the-implementation-of-technocracy.html "the Federal Administration will have full visibility of all data within the Smart Grid, even down to the individual household. They will also be in a position to set national, regional and local distribution and consumption policies, such as your "fair share" of available energy, gas and water. International standards created for Smart Grid will also enable the U.S. Smart Grid to be connected seamlessly with Canada and Mexico, thus providing a comprehensive North American energy management and distribution system. Is Smart Grid destined to be a global phenomenon? Yes. Is it designed to support a new global Technocratic, resource-based economic system? Yes. Technocracy must be seen for what it is: An attempt to impose a totalitarian, scientific dictatorship. In 1933, it called for the inauguration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as dictator in order to "pave the way for economic revolution." Fortunately at the time, they failed in their attempted coup. If today's Smart Grid is successfully completed, it will enable the conversion of our existing economic system into something far different and far worse. This is why the American people repudiated Technocracy in 1933, and this is exactly why we (and citizens around the world) should thoroughly repudiate it today." Comment 12 Mary Says: on Saturday, March 06, 2010 7:12:34 PM During college, I accepted scholarships, grants & loans (public & private) otherwise I would not have been able to afford my education even though I was working several part time jobs at the time. Those "easy" to get loans and grants were probably the cause of tuition inflation over the past 20 years, but that SOCIAL JUSTICE program sure helped pull up the bootstraps of an impoverished lower class girl allowing me to get a good job that has put me firmly in the middle class FREEING me from the bondage of welfare and INCREASING MY PERSONAL LIBERTIES. Comment 13 Economic Growth & Hope = Two Parent Families Says: on Sunday, March 07, 2010 3:54:42 PM Demographics & Depression by David P. Goldman http://www.firstthings.com/article/2009/05/demographics--depression-1243457089 "To understand the bleeding in the housing market, then, we need to examine the population of prospective homebuyers whose millions of individual decisions determine whether the economy will recover. Families with children are the fulcrum of the housing market. Because single-parent families tend to be poor, the buying power is concentrated in two-parent families with children. Housing prices are collapsing in part because single-person households are replacing families with children. The Virginia Tech economist Arthur C. Nelson has noted that households with children would fall from half to a quarter of all households by 2025. The demand of Americans will then be urban apartments for empty nesters. Demand for large-lot single family homes, Nelson calculated, will slump from 56 million today to 34 million in 2025–a reduction of 40 percent. There never will be a housing price recovery in many parts of the country. Huge tracts will become uninhabited except by vandals and rodents. The baby boomers evidently concluded that one day they all would sell their houses to each other at exorbitant prices and retire on the proceeds. The national household savings rate fell to zero by 2007, as Americans came to believe that capital gains on residential real estate would substitute for savings. After a $15 trillion reduction in asset values, Americans are now saving as much as they can. Of course, if everyone saves and no one spends, the economy shuts down, which is precisely what is happening. The trouble is not that aging baby boomers need to save. The problem is that the families with children who need to spend never were formed in sufficient numbers to sustain growth. The origin of the crisis is demographic, and its solution can only be demographic." Comment 14 Charity Says: on Sunday, March 07, 2010 6:20:25 PM Sally, I agree the Bible is not outdated, including the Old Testament. Scripture clearly states "The one who is generous to the poor makes a loan to God." Proverbs 19:17. Gifts to the poor are comparable to loans to God which will be repaid many times over with treasures in Heaven. I have more faith in God than any paper currency in the world. The pentacostal followers of the properity gospel take this principle a step further preaching that tithes and offerings to churches and charities that help the poor in their congregations will bring favor and rewards on earth as well as in Heaven. This is more contraversial and I could see how the blogger could use it as an example of social justice being used as financial tyranny. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosperity_gospel Comment 15 Curt Says: on Sunday, March 07, 2010 7:53:15 PM I didn't think this introduction article would create such a stir. By wikipedia definition, social justice is primarily an anti-capitalism concept focused on the redistribution of wealth in an effoct to reduce poverty. "Social justice is also a concept that some use to describe the movement towards a socially just world. In this context, social justice is based on the concepts of human rights and equality and involves a greater degree of economic egalitarianism through progressive taxation, income redistribution, or even property redistribution, policies aimed toward achieving that which developmental economists refer to as more equality of opportunity and equality of outcome than may currently exist in some societies or are available to some classes in a given society." This is the aspect of social justice that helps support the formation of a tyranny. Comment 16 Maggie Says: on Monday, March 08, 2010 12:52:31 PM Wow---there is alot of information and interesting dialog here and good web-sites to check out--great-!! I like Sally's responses the best--!! Comment 17 steve Says: on Monday, March 08, 2010 5:52:40 PM http://www.firstthings.com/article/2007/01/defining-social-justice-29 "One happy characteristic of the definition of the virtue of social justice is that it is ideologically neutral. It is as open to people on the left as on the right or in the center. Its field of activity may be literary, scientific, religious, political, economic, cultural, athletic, and so on, across the whole spectrum of human social activities. The virtue of social justice allows for people of good will to reach different—even opposing—practical judgments about the material content of the common good (ends) and how to get there (means). Such differences are the stuff of politics." Even Friedrich Hayek wrotethat neglect of Social Justice, has moral consequences: "It is one of the greatest weaknesses of our time that we lack the patience and faith to build up voluntary organizations for purposes which we value highly, and immediately ask the government to bring about by coercion (or with means raised by coercion) anything that appears as desirable to large numbers. Yet nothing can have a more deadening effect on real participation by the citizens than if government, instead of merely providing the essential framework of spontaneous growth, becomes monolithic and takes charge of the provision for all needs, which can be provided for only by the common effort of many." Comment 18 Benedict Says: on Monday, March 08, 2010 6:02:59 PM "Social justice is also a concept that SOME use to describe the movement towards a socially just world" Some might use that definition and some do NOT! Regardless, also from wikipedia, "Catholic social teaching comprises those aspects of Roman Catholic doctrine which relate to matters dealing with the collective aspect of humanity. A distinctive feature of Catholic social teaching is its concern for the poorest members of society. Two of the seven key areas of Catholic social teaching are pertinent to social justice: 1. Life and dignity of the human person: The foundational principle of all Catholic Social Teaching is the sanctity of all human life and the inherent dignity of every human person. Human life must be valued above all material possessions. 2. Preferential option for the poor and vulnerable: Jesus taught that on the Day of Judgement God will ask what each person did to help the poor and needy: "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." The Catholic Church teaches that through words, prayers and deeds one must show solidarity with, and compassion for, the poor. The moral test of any society is "how it treats its most vulnerable members." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_justice Comment 19 Juan Says: on Monday, March 08, 2010 6:08:35 PM The basic Social Justice liberties according to the famous political philosopher of the 70's, John Rawls: 1) Freedom of thought; 2) Liberty of conscience as it affects social relationships on the grounds of religion, philosophy, and morality; 3) Political liberties (e.g. representative democratic institutions, freedom of speech and the press, and freedom of assembly); 4) Freedom of association; 5) Freedoms necessary for the liberty and integrity of the person (viz: freedom from slavery, freedom of movement and a reasonable degree of freedom to choose one's occupation); and 6) Rights and liberties covered by the rule of law. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_justice Sounds more like liberty than tyrany to me! Comment 20 Nam N. Says: on Monday, March 08, 2010 8:45:43 PM This article gives one example of what happens when there is no one to fight for or who cares about social justice. Gendercide - The worldwide war on baby girls. Technology, declining fertility and ancient prejudice are combining to unbalance societies. http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15636231&fsrc=rss "XINRAN XUE, a Chinese writer, describes visiting a peasant family in the Yimeng area of Shandong province. The wife was giving birth. “We had scarcely sat down in the kitchen”, she writes (see article), “when we heard a moan of pain from the bedroom next door…The cries from the inner room grew louder—and abruptly stopped. There was a low sob, and then a man’s gruff voice said accusingly: ‘Useless thing!’" “Suddenly, I thought I heard a slight movement in the slops pail behind me,” Miss Xinran remembers. “To my absolute horror, I saw a tiny foot poking out of the pail. The midwife must have dropped that tiny baby alive into the slops pail! I nearly threw myself at it, but the two policemen [who had accompanied me] held my shoulders in a firm grip. ‘Don’t move, you can’t save it, it’s too late.’" “‘But that’s...murder...and you’re the police!’ The little foot was still now. The policemen held on to me for a few more minutes. ‘Doing a baby girl is not a big thing around here,’ [an] older woman said comfortingly. ‘That’s a living child,’ I said in a shaking voice, pointing at the slops pail. ‘It’s not a child,’ she corrected me. ‘It’s a girl baby, and we can’t keep it. Around these parts, you can’t get by without a son. Girl babies don’t count.’” "Throughout human history, young men have been responsible for the vast preponderance of crime and violence—especially single men in countries where status and social acceptance depend on being married and having children, as it does in China and India. A rising population of frustrated single men spells trouble." "The crime rate has almost doubled in China during the past 20 years of rising sex ratios, with stories abounding of bride abduction, the trafficking of women, rape and prostitution. A study into whether these things were connected† concluded that they were, and that higher sex ratios accounted for about one-seventh of the rise in crime." Comment 21 Rick Says: on Tuesday, March 09, 2010 5:43:01 PM I see you are in good company! http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/03/08/glenn-beck-urges-listeners-to-leave-churches-that-preach-social/ Glenn Beck Urges Listeners to Leave Churches That Preach Social Justice "On his daily radio and television shows last week, Fox News personality Glenn Beck set out to convince his audience that "social justice," the term many Christian churches use to describe their efforts to address poverty and human rights, is a "code word" for communism and Nazism. Beck urged Christians to discuss the term with their priests and to leave their churches if leaders would not reconsider their emphasis on social justice. "I'm begging you, your right to religion and freedom to exercise religion and read all of the passages of the Bible as you want to read them and as your church wants to preach them . . . are going to come under the ropes in the next year. If it lasts that long it will be the next year. I beg you, look for the words 'social justice' or 'economic justice' on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!" Later, Beck held up cards, one with a hammer and sickle and other with a swastika. "Communists are on the left, and the Nazis are on the right. That's what people say. But they both subscribe to one philosophy, and they flew one banner. . . . But on each banner, read the words, here in America: 'social justice.' They talked about economic justice, rights of the workers, redistribution of wealth, and surprisingly, democracy." Comment 22 Mo Says: on Tuesday, March 09, 2010 6:26:53 PM What Makes the Healthiest and Happiest Societies? Hint: It's Not Wealth Epidemiologist Richard Wilkinson explains why it's equality, and not high income, that makes a society thrive. http://www.alternet.org/health/145955/what_makes_the_healthiest_and_happiest_societies_hint:_it_not_rich_people_ Darn you Social Justice! Comment 23 Curt Says: on Tuesday, March 09, 2010 6:50:06 PM @Rick - Perhaps Glenn Beck is reading my blog! Comment 24 Elliot Says: on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 6:52:06 PM Beck's linking of socially conscious churches to communism and Nazism hasn't sat well with some Christian groups. http://rawstory.com/2010/03/christians-fight-glenn-beck/ "Bread for the World, a Christian group devoted to eradicating world hunger, has started a petition to demand that Beck stop spreading "misinformation and fear" through his radio and TV broadcasts." "Economic and social justice are central to the gospel of Jesus Christ," the petition reads. "Quit using your bully pulpit to spread misinformation and fear by comparing faithful Christians who care 'for the least of these' to Nazis and communists." http://www.newevangelicalpartnership.org/?q=node/30 Comment 25 Calling All Rebels Says: on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 7:42:38 PM "Those who do not rebel in our age of totalitarian capitalism and who convince themselves that there is no alternative to collaboration are complicit in their own enslavement. They commit spiritual and moral suicide." http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/calling_all_rebels_20100308/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Truthdig+Truthdig%3A+Drilling+Beneath+the+Headlines Comment 26 Curt Says: on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 9:48:24 PM @Eliot - The two faces to social justice. On the one hand you have the progressive taxation, income redistribution, and even property redistribution - that lead to tyranny. On the other hand you have the heavy hearted desire to do something good to help the poor and dying and many people cannot wait for the day when investments can be made with sound economics to support them. The answer is to give to the poor out of your own riches (not debts), but be careful not to support government policies with progressive taxation, income redistribution and property redistribution in order to force the nation to give while leading us into a tyranny. Comment 27 Bernard Says: on Thursday, March 11, 2010 5:33:19 PM Chuck Colson: "I’ve said it until I’m blue in the face, and I’ll say it until I’m purple: The biblical view of the role of government is to preserve order, restrain evil, and promote justice. Government has no legitimate interest in running car companies, the healthcare industry, or taking over student loans." http://www.informz.net/pfm/archives/archive_962437.html Comment 28 Old Hippie Says: on Thursday, March 11, 2010 6:43:05 PM Glenn Beck Responds: Social Justice ‘Is a Perversion of the Gospel’ by Ryan Rodrick Beiler http://blog.sojo.net/2010/03/11/glenn-beck-responds-social-justice-is-a-perversion-of-the-gospel/ http://go.sojo.net/campaign/glennbeck_socialjustice Comment 29 Scotty Says: on Friday, March 12, 2010 7:55:04 PM The carbon economy – controlling consumption. http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article17568.html The future is worse than you think you know! Comment 30 Boycott Says: on Sunday, March 14, 2010 7:33:20 AM Now you got Jerry Falwell involved too! http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/03/12/beck.boycott/index.html?hpt=C1 (CNN) -- An evangelical leader is calling for a boycott of Glenn Beck's television show and challenging the Fox News personality to a public debate after Beck vilified churches that preach economic and social justice. The Rev. Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, a network of progressive Christians, says Beck perverted Jesus' message when he urged Christians last week to leave churches that preach social and economic justice. Wallis says Beck compared those churches to Communists and Nazis. Wallis says at least 20,000 people have already responded to his call to boycott Beck. He says Beck is confusing his personal philosophy with the Bible. "He wants us to leave our churches, but we should leave him," Wallis says of Beck. "When your political philosophy is to consistently favor the rich over the poor, you don't want to hear about economic justice." Wallis says he wants to go on Beck's show to challenge the contention that churches shouldn't preach economic and social justice. Social and economic justice is at the heart of Jesus' message, Wallis says. "He's afraid of being challenged on his silly caricatures," Wallis says. "Glenn Beck talks a lot when he doesn't have someone to dialogue with. Is he willing to talk with someone who he doesn't agree with?" Beck did not answer numerous requests for an interview. But a prominent evangelical leader says he, too, is suspicious of churches that preach economic and social justice. Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, a Christian college in Virginia, says Jesus wasn't interested in politics. He says that those pastors who preach economic and social justice "are trying to twist the gospel to say the gospel supported socialism." "Jesus taught that we should give to the poor and support widows, but he never said that we should elect a government that would take money from our neighbor's hand and give it to the poor," Falwell says. Falwell says that Jesus believed that individuals, not governments, should help the poor. "If we all did as Jesus did when he helped the poor, we wouldn't need the government," says Falwell, the son of the late evangelical leader, the Rev. Jerry Falwell. What is economic and social justice? The term "economic and social justice" is not easy to define. It has different meanings for different people. For some Christians, practicing economic and social justice means that churches should practice charity: setting up soup kitchens, assisting victims of natural disasters, and helping people find jobs. For other Christians, practicing economic and social justice also means trying to change the conditions that cause people to be poor or unemployed. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. subscribed to this definition of biblical justice. Marty Duren, a Southern Baptist Convention pastor, says some conservative Christians have traditionally thought churches shouldn't get involved in economic or social justice. "For a long time, Southern Baptists and evangelicals were so focused on the return of Christ that what was happening in the real world was almost incidental," says Duren, who blogs at martyduren.com. But within the last two decades, Duren says, more evangelical Christians have come to believe that the Bible calls for economic and social justice. William Wilberforce, for example, is a 19th century British politician who helped abolish the slave trade in his country. He is now regarded as a hero for some evangelicals because he applied his faith to the economic and social justice issues of his day, Duren says. Did Jesus preach about social and economic justice? The Bible cares about social and economic justice, Duren says. "The Old Testament is replete with examples of God threatening to judge a nation because of a lack of justice or carrying out that threat of judgment against a nation,'' Duren says. He believes Beck was wrong to tell Christians that they shouldn't belong to churches that seek justice. "If I had any authority at Fox News right now, Glenn Beck would be seeking economic justice," Duren says. The Rev. Jim Wallis is the president of Sojourners, a network of Christians.That concern for justice is what helped convert him, says Wallis, president of Sojourners. Wallis, who counts King as one of his faith role models, says the Bible isn't just concerned with feeding the poor -- it's concerned about the conditions that create the poor. Wallis also evoked the Christians who fought against slavery as well as civil rights activists. "The Bible just didn't say take care of the victim -- it talks about justice," says Wallis, who is the author of "Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street and Your Street." Meanwhile, Wallis says he's waiting for that public debate with Beck. "I'll have it," Wallis says, "anywhere he wants." Comment 31 Curt Says: on Sunday, March 14, 2010 10:09:47 AM @Boycott - Rev. Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, a network of progressive Christians - is a far left nut that has been fooled into this new age of social justice that is helping lead the nation to tyranny. Jerry Falwell Jr. understands the dangers of government control of the economy. "Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, a Christian college in Virginia, says Jesus wasn't interested in politics. He says that those pastors who preach economic and social justice "are trying to twist the gospel to say the gospel supported socialism." "Jesus taught that we should give to the poor and support widows, but he never said that we should elect a government that would take money from our neighbor's hand and give it to the poor," Falwell says. Falwell says that Jesus believed that individuals, not governments, should help the poor." Comment 32 Peace is Possible Says: on Sunday, March 14, 2010 3:49:17 PM "We spend money defending other nations and trying to promote peace and justice in the world. Why can’t we spend some of this money on individuals that really need it? Where is the justice there?" http://news.goldseek.com/TacticalInvestor/1268146390.php Comment 33 Peace is Possible Says: on Tuesday, March 23, 2010 6:21:16 PM You question the Rev. Jim Wallis' mental health but just as many people ththought the Rev. Falwell was a bit nutty too! Comment 34 Sally Says: on Wednesday, March 24, 2010 7:04:53 PM This guy Jum Wallis does not sound like a nut to me!!! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/what-glenn-beck-doesnt-un_b_511362.html What Glenn Beck Doesn't Understand About Biblical Social Justice by Jim Wallis "When Glenn Beck promised to devote a whole week of his television show to come after me, I wasn't sure he really meant it. I guess he did. Last night he began to make good on the threat he made on his radio show that "the hammer will fall." I confess to having never really watched Glenn Beck's show before being told that he equated the term "social justice, highly respected in the Christian world and embedded in all of our traditions," with Communism, Marxism, Nazism, and a completely totalitarian view of government. He said "social justice" is a "perversion of the gospel" and told Christians to leave their churches if they heard that term used by their pastors or even found it on the Web site! Whew. I responded on my blog that instead of leaving all our churches, maybe we should just stop watching his show and the insults against a teaching at the core of the gospel and integral to biblical faith, and I suggested that instead of turning pastors and priests in to "church authorities," we turn ourselves in to Glenn Beck (since our church authorities also regard social justice as core to their faith). Well, he apparently got angry and promised that the hammer would "pound over and over through the night" on "your cute little organization and the cute little people who work for you." Some of them are indeed very cute, but they felt a little uneasy about the context of the compliment. But tonight's first installment of the hammer proved that Beck isn't just angry or merely misguided; he really does completely misunderstand the Christian teaching of social justice and is indeed insulting us. I was glad he gave us his definition of "social justice" and put it up right on his famous blackboard. "My definition of social justice," he wrote in chalk, is "the forced redistribution of wealth, with a hostility to individual property, under the guise of charity and/or justice." Well, somebody needs to tell Mr. Beck that virtually no church in America, or the world, would support anything close to that as a definition of social justice. Beck needs to hear some good church teaching -- including from his own Mormon church members who fundamentally disagree with him and have said so. He did say that caring for the poor was good, and he does it himself, but only in individual ways, and that anything more than that is a slippery slope first to "socialism," then "forced re-distribution of wealth," then full-out "Marxism." It was all in cool diagrams and triangles on his blackboard, which he said just came to him before the show. I can believe that. Again, somebody should take Mr. Beck to a good Catholic Education Congress, like the one I spoke at last weekend in Los Angeles, where 25,000 Christians talked excitedly about the vital relationship between personal and social responsibility. Then he nailed me. He accused me of saying that faith-based initiatives and their resources were inadequate to reduce poverty by themselves. Guilty as charged. The quote was likely in the context of calling Christians to take such actions and lead by example (something I have preached and tried to practice for almost four decades) but that we will be most effective when we also work in partnership with other sectors: the private market, the rest of civil society, and even the GOVERNMENT! Would somebody please tell Catholic Charities and the Salvation Army that they are really supporting Marxism if they partner with the public sector? Then Beck played a tape which exposed me saying that "redistribution" (the word in the English language that most seems to scare him) was part of the gospel message. He could have mentioned the gospel stories of the Rich Young Ruler, of Lazarus and the Rich Man, or the stern warnings of Jesus in Matthew 25 that we will be judged by "our treatment of the least of these." But he didn't. He did make a brief reference to Christ's teaching that it would be harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle; but he didn't seem to get it. Instead Beck said that what I meant was...you guessed it: "forced redistribution, socialism, and Marxism." Hmm, don't ever remember saying that (it will be hard for Fox to find the videos of that), or even remember any of my fellow traveler social justice Christians ever saying or supporting that. But we do say that while social justice begins with our own lives, choices, and sacrifices, it doesn't end there. Those of us who have actually done this work for years all understand that you can't just pull the bodies out of the river, and not send somebody upstream to see what or who is throwing them in. Serving the poor is a fundamental spiritual requirement of faith, but challenging the conditions that create poverty in the first place is also part of biblical social justice. In countering Beck's misunderstanding of social justice on The Colbert Report, James Martin, an editor of the Jesuit America magazine, quoted a Catholic Archbishop as saying, "When I feed the poor they call me a saint; but when I ask why people are poor they call me a communist." He suggested Beck has that problem. Private charity, which Beck and I are both for, wasn't enough to end the slave trade in Great Britain, end legal racial segregation in America, or end apartheid in South Africa. That took vital movements of faith which understood the connection between personal compassion and social justice. Those are the movements that have inspired me and shaped my life -- not BIG GOVERNMENT. And my allies in faith-based social justice movements have wonderfully different views on the role of government -- some bigger than mine and some smaller than mine -- but we all believe social justice requires changing both personal choices and unjust structures. Apparently Beck thinks social justice ends with private charity, but very few churches in the nation would agree with him. He even recounted my favorite story about the 2,500 verses in the Bible about the poor that we cut out of an old Bible when we were in seminary -- leaving a Bible full of holes -- again, proving my "Marxist" motivations but missing the whole point of the story: that we have made our American Bible full of holes when we have ignored the biblical call to social justice. We might now call that old holey (not holy) Bible, The Glenn Beck Bible. Since the great attraction of so many young people of faith today is the call of Jesus to justice, Glenn may continue to lose the youthful audience who would rather go to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert -- both of whose shows did very funny spoofs on Beck's views last week. But what really made me mad was when Glenn Beck called Dorothy Day a "Marxist" and went after us both with guilt by association. Guilty again. I couldn't be more proud of that association. It was clear that Beck had never heard of her, so somebody really needs to tell him that Dorothy Day is regarded as a modern saint in the Catholic Church and is already in the process of canonization--before he puts her up on his blackboard. Beck recounted a conversation I had with Dorothy as a new young convert to Christianity. She was in her eighties and asked me if I had been a radical student in my early years as she had been. "Yeah," Beck recorded me saying. And if I had been attracted to Marxism, as she had. "Yeah" I said again. Gotcha! Beck said. They're both Marxists! What he left out was the next lines of our conversation that I still remember and, of course, were on the same tape he abruptly cut off. "And now, you're a Catholic?" Dorothy Day asked me. "Well, now I'm a Christian," I said. "You're not a Catholic?" she chided. I lamely responded that "some of my best friends" were Catholic, and Dorothy smiled. We were sharing our conversion stories from secular radicalism and Marxism to Jesus Christ and his gospel of love and justice. Glenn Beck just left that part out, as he often leaves stuff out or just makes up stuff and puts it in. Here's the full audio of that interview: Then he most offensively implied that people like us (all up on his infamous blackboard now) at least know people who believe in violence to make our social revolutions succeed -- like former Weatherman Bill Ayers (never met him or heard of him, until Fox tried to make him famous and link him to Barack Obama). By the way, that is really the point of bringing "the hammer" down on me -- to get at President Obama, for whom Beck said repeatedly that I am an "influential spiritual advisor" on a whole range of policy matters. Trouble is, I have never been a "spiritual advisor" to Obama, but am happy to be regarded as one of his many "friends" over the last decade and only gave him "policy advice" in the official report of the Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships on which I served for a year with a distinguished group of interfaith leaders -- who will all likely be up soon on Glenn's blackboard. You can read the full report and check all our recommendations for "Socialism and Marxism." But I do want to expose his audience to some of the people who are the kind of social revolutionaries Glenn Beck most fears. Listen to this: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. he has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Or this: He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. Or this: Therefore, it must be borne in mind that grave imbalances are produced when economic action, conceived merely as an engine for wealth creation, is detached from political action, conceived as a means for pursuing justice through redistribution. The first quote was the words of Jesus (Luke 4:18-19), and the second from Mary's Magnificat (Luke 1:52-53), which prophesied the meaning of the coming of Jesus to include what we Christians call "social justice." The third quote is from Pope Benedict XVI (Caritas in Veritate), one of the most conservative of recent popes and a fierce opponent of Communism. Glenn, he thinks social justice has something to do with "redistribution," just like you quoted me as saying. But neither of us have ever called for the "forced re-distribution" that you keep adding on to our words or say we "really mean." Both Jesus and Mary could soon be up on the Beck blackboard, along with the Holy Father. C'mon Glenn. Have me on the show! Give me my own blackboard. And let's have a real debate about "social justice!" You've got to be able to do better than this. Just because a fascist and anti-Semitic demagogue in the 1930s like Father Coughlin twisted the term social justice to justify his tirades, please don't say "Jim Wallis is Coughlin." Now you're going to make my rabbi friends mad too, not just the Christians. And please stop accusing Christians who teach social justice with support for totalitarian governments on the Right or the Left. Christian social justice does not equal totalitarian government, but on the contrary, has always tried to hold government accountable to the needs of "the least of these." Listen to what we teach: you start by practicing social justice in your own life, then you act for social justice in your family, your congregation, your community, in the most local way possible. The Catholics call that "subsidiarity" -- look it up. And you only work to change government when you can't accomplish things on a smaller scale. Churches were the very best in responding to Katrina, for example, but churches can't build levees. And Glenn, voluntary church action can't provide health care for millions who don't have it, or fix broken urban school systems, or provide jobs at fair wages, or protect our kids from toxic air, water, and toys, or fix a broken immigration system that is grinding up our vulnerable families, or keep banks from cheating our people. All that requires commitments to holding governments accountable to social justice, and advocating for better public policies. Christians have done that for many years, especially in democratic governments where they have the opportunity. Take a breath Glenn, your phobia about any government makes you see "Marxists" under every rock -- and in every Christian heart and congregation. Give it a rest! We start with God, not government (remember your diagram Glenn); we start with changing lives, not policies; we always start on the home front in our families, congregations, and communities; and only address public policies when we can't do it ourselves. That's Christian social justice, Glenn, a passion for the gospel and the poor-- not for totalitarian government. Both Glenn Beck and I have been flooded with more than fifty thousand messages from church leaders, members, and pastors saying that they are "social justice Christians." But Jesus also said that we should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. I invited Beck to a civil and respectful conversation about the issues at stake here, but he has chosen a different path. But whatever Glenn Beck does to me, to Sojourners, or to others, I will continue to refuse to personally attack him. And I urge our supporters not to personally attack him either. Rather, pray for him, for me, for Sojourners, and for our country." Jim Wallis is the author of Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street -- A Moral Compass for the New Economy, CEO of Sojourners and blogs at www.godspolitics.com. Comment 35 evision Says: on Monday, March 29, 2010 3:25:15 AM www.onlineuniversalwork.com Comment 36 fintel Says: on Wednesday, April 21, 2010 11:17:39 PM thanks for information http://www.fintel.us/ Write a Comment Please keep comments civil and on-topic. Abusive or inappropriate comments will be removed without warning.  Name (required)     Email Address (required)     Website URL  Comment

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