This section explores what social action means, what Scripture says about social action and how we can implement it in our everyday lives.
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Surely that faith cannot save, can it? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
James 2:14-17
Social action is the umbrella term for ensuring fairness and justice in our societies and in our everyday living. Whereas social policy is the term used by governments to implement social justice through legislation, research and analysis. Social action is therefore, a phrase to describe a collective response to social problems. Other terms and phrases we often hear to describe this approach include: social concern, welfare state, and the common good.
During the 19th century, the concept of social policy developed in the UK out of sociological and philosophical thought regarding how families, charities and the government should care for children and other vulnerable groups, including the elderly and the sick. Yet the roots of social policy were formulated much earlier in the Bible which we will see in Section 2.
Social action engages with issues that affect society such as:
Alcohol abuse; care for the unborn child; discrimination; domestic abuse; education; the elderly and end of life care; the environment; family breakdown; homelessness; human trafficking; inequality; mental health problems; migration; pornography; poverty; social exclusion; unemployment; violence; and war. Some of these issues are inter-related – some will be causes and others will be effects. The root causes may be sociological, political, economic or psychological – but they consequently have an impact on society.
Social action has often been used to identify practical and technical ways of managing social justice problems. It also challenges unjust structures and systems that are either dealt with by the state or the state itself is perpetuating. As governments fund and run state provision, they are usually required to take appropriate action through their own policies, legislation and budgets. However, governments do not work alone. They consult many other groups in the public and private sectors as well as the informal sector – e.g. families and individuals. They may carry out their own research or use the research findings of others.
Social action is not just about patching up social problems, it addresses and finds ways to prevent what is causing them in the first place. This requires commitment and perseverance but the impacts can be worth it: our children and future generations will benefit.
Equipped with possible solutions or ways of managing social problems, social action is used by decision makers such as national and local governments. They may carry out their own research or use the research findings of others to change inequalities and injustice wherever they prioritise the need. While short and long-term solutions are constantly reviewed, changing societal attitudes also influence how social justice is understood and applied.
We all have a role to play in upholding social justice, whether collectively as the Catholic Church or as individuals. We may decide to pray for an issue and then take practical action, or get more involved in an issue at a deeper level.
We can be part of the prevention of social injustice as well as the solution to it. We can:
“The service of charity is also a constituent element of the Church’s mission and an indispensable expression of her very being. By her very nature the Church is missionary; she abounds in effective charity and a compassion which understands, assists and promotes.”
Evangelii Gaudium, sec. 179.
Why should the Catholic Church get involved?
Speak out for those who cannot speak,
for the rights of all the destitute.
Speak out, judge righteously,
defend the rights of the poor and needy.
Proverbs 31: 8-9
As Catholics we live in relationship with God. As human societies we live in relationship with each other. To manage our societies we have a history of appointing leaders and creating structures of power. We also create systems to manage these power structures in order to safeguard justice and prevent corruption.
In our modern societies we are bound by laws – some of which reflect the will of God while others appear contrary. We can see that good governance is necessary to balance both social relationships and individual freedoms. Where societies are ruled inconsistently and unjustly, society is weak, freedom is fragile and people are more vulnerable.
Therefore, ‘if indeed “the just ordering of society and of the state is a central responsibility of politics”, the Church “cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice”.
Evangelii Gaudium, sec. 183.
The Catholic Church has been building community for centuries: from protecting individuals, relationships and family life, to upholding the dignity of the human person at all ages and stages of their life; from advocating just work, safe working conditions and fair wages to promoting peace, education and environmental care; from challenging poverty, homelessness and global debt to promoting reconciliation, forgiveness and social inclusion.
Popes, theologians, saints and other Catholic thinkers have promoted social justice and social action in their teachings, writings, lifestyles, faith and spirituality from the early Church onwards. Catholic social teaching has become a framework for social action and promoting the common good. Numerous religious orders and Catholic charities devote their mission and purpose to social action and in upholding social justice in multiple areas.
And we know the need is great. As it says in Gaudium et Spes: “This social order requires constant improvement. It must be founded on truth, built on justice and animated by love; in freedom it should grow every day toward a more humane balance. An improvement in attitudes and abundant changes in society will have to take place if these objectives are to be gained” (sec. 26). With over 4.5 million Catholics in England and Wales, we have plenty of reasons and opportunities to respond to local, national and worldwide issues and to challenge social injustice in the name of God. When we respond to the needs of our world through prayer, practical action and promoting social justice, and these are underpinned by Scripture, we can be confident that we follow in the teachings of Jesus. ExploringScripture is the focus of our next section.
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Section 2: Social Justice in Scripture >
<< Back to ‘Turning Tables: A Toolkit for Scripture and Social Action’
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How you can put your Catholic faith into action through acts of service like volunteering.
