Social Justice: Elements of a
Just World
Stage 1 Studies in Religion
Cabra Dominican College 2011
God’s dream for the world….
• "God says to you, 'I have a dream. Please help
me to realize it.’ It is a dream of a world whose
ugliness and squalor and poverty, its war and
hostility, its greed and harsh competitiveness,
its alienation and disharmony are changed
into their glorious counterparts.“Archbishop Desmond Tutu
A ‘Just’ world…
• Looks like…..?
• Sounds like…..?
• Feels like….?
My image of a ‘Just World’….
What is YOUR IMAGE OF A JUST
WORLD ?
Take 5 minutes to think about it
and write down some ideas to
share with the class.
Elements of a Just World
1.
2.
3.
4.
Concern for Basic Needs
Concern for Personal Dignity
Concern for Solidarity
Concern for Social Structures
1. Concern for Basic Needs
“God destined the earth and all it contains for all
people and nations so that all created things
would be shared fairly by all humankind under
The guidance of justice tempered by charity.”
Vatican II, The Church in the Modern World, #69
1. Concern for Basic Needs
 Food
 Clothing
 Shelter
 Healthcare
 Rest
 Employment
 Equal Opportunity
 Social Services
 Education
2. Concern for Personal Dignity
“Then God said: Let us make (people) in our
image, after our likeness…” Genesis 1:26
2. Concern for Personal Dignity
 Valuing dignity
 respecting worth
 right to self esteem
 personal empowerment
 make own decisions
 participate in the decisions of country &
communities.
 Sharing power
3. Concern for Solidarity
“Furthermore since work which (people) share
together causes them to have common hopes,
sorrows, desires and joy it unites their wills,
their minds and their hearts. For when
(people) work they recognize one another as
brothers and sisters” Pope Paul VI, On Promoting the
Development of Peoples, no 27.
3. Concern for Solidarity
 working WITH, not working FOR
 recognizing that we are ONE human family:
we need each other, the good of one coincides
with the good of all.
 breakdown barriers between rich/poor,
young/old, black/white,
 Inequity of powers requires a redistribution
of power.
4. Concern for Social Structures
“Society should be structured so that it is easy
for people to be good” attributed to Peter Maurin, co-founder of the
Catholic Worker Movement.
4. Concern for Social Structures
 recognizing that personal problems BECOME
societal problems
 Society's education system, transport system,
patterns of government spending, use of
natural resources etc are all part of working
towards a JUST world
 We need to transform societies structures to
create a society that provides for all our basic
needs and self-esteem.
Sources used:
• www.jmeelf.com/Elements%20of%20a%20Just%20World.ppt
• http://godhasadream.com/ Copyright © 2004-2006 Maui Media, LLC - All
Rights Reserved
• ‘The Four elements of a Just World’ in A call to Justice
• http://www.coc.org/system/files/Eighth+Sunday+in+Ordinary+Time+%5Ba
%5D.pdf
Images Used:
•
•
•
•
http://joshuakaufmann.com/2011/04/what-is-the-image-of-god/
http://thesocialistway.blogspot.com/2011/06/solidarity-forever.html
www.cartoonstock.com.au
http://www.oxfam.org.au/act/take-action/3things/change-the-world3things-at-a-time
• http://kevin567.wordpress.com/2010/11/04/harmony/
• http://www.rollbackcampaign.org/contest2010/
Prepared by: Ms McIntosh, 2011