The Tablet: justice and charity

I wrote once about the difference between justice and charity, and today I saw a post at The Tablet's blog that expresses this difference very well. Here's the beginning of that post ....

Without justice, charity is undermined - Abigail Frymann

There comes a time when you have to stop pulling bodies out of the water and go upriver and find out who or what is pushing them in.

Not the most pleasant image, perhaps, but one used by charities as a justification of spending supporters' money on advocacy work rather than just aid.

There is a movement in parts of the Catholic Church at the moment to focus more on its charity (Caritas) work and less on its justice and peace (advocacy) work. One example of this, as we report this week, is in the diocese of Shrewsbury, where the local bishop is making made the Justice and Peace co-ordinator redundant.

Critics of justice and peace work say that it is too political, too secular. After all, you don't need to be a professing Christian to wave a placard or go on about the rainforests. And many Christians (bar Revd Giles Fraser) stayed away from the Occupy movement.

But there is something inherently biblical about calling for justice and peace ....