Injustice

Below is the 13^th in the August Catholic Social Teaching series.

It might seem that injustice is the opposite of justice, but injustice is often the fruit of ignorance or misinformation.  The opposite of Justice is self-righteousness.  It is putting our own egos in the place that belong to God and attempting to orient life to our own egos instead of God’s design.

Teresita Scully, MTS

“The opposite of Justice is self-righteousness”

A (perfect) example of self-righteousness is found in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, Luke, Chapter 18:

₉ He then addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. ₁₀ “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. ₁₁ The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. ₁₂ I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.

The tax collector, acknowledging he is flawed, approaches God differently:

₁₃ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’

Jesus, explains why the tax payer was justified although tax collecting was not a good thing, (he needed to earn a living),

₁₄ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Other types of injustices include:

• Epistemic injustice refers to the unfair treatment of individuals or groups in their capacity as knowers or producers of knowledge.

• Testimonial injustice occurs when individuals or groups are unfairly treated in their capacity as witnesses or testifiers. 

• Hermeneutical injustice refers to the marginalization of certain knowledge claims or experiences due to a lack of conceptual resources or frameworks. This can result in the inability to articulate or make sense of one's experiences, leading to further marginalization.

You can read more about these types injustices here.

An excellent quote to think about: “Ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” -  James Baldwin

I encourage you to watch the video here