Rob Hadding poses a reasonable question here. My apologies for the techglitch (which we have not been able to solve yet) that keeps Rob from visiting us directly. The short form is that Rob is not sure Wright deserves the “bludgeoning” for those global justice pages that he sees me trying to administer.
1. All reformers for global justice should be made to take a variation of the Hippocratic oath. “First, do no harm.” Good intentions are not a qualification to help;
2. The question is not whether or not we Christians should work and pray for global justice. Of course we should. The question is whether we know what it is yet;
3. The question is not whether or not we Christians should take initial steps to contribute to the final end of global justice. The question is whether we have done enough work to know what those initial steps are;
4. The march for global justice is a long march that will only be that much longer if we head off in the wrong direction now because of our sense of urgency;
5. All reformers for global justice should be well-read in the history of previous humanitarian disasters, and the destructive roles played in them by the well-intentioned;
6. The standards for what constitutes justice and what constitutes injustice must be based on the law of God;
7. We must have clear definitions for every word in the sentence, we must help them. Who are we? Who are they? What does help look like? Who are not included in we? Who are not included in them?;
8. The success of the plan to help must take into account factors like military involvement, hovering dictators, investment by corporations, and so forth. You must understand the law of unintended consequences;
9. Guilt is one of the most terrible motivators in the world;
10. Gratitude for the overflow of affluence is the motivation we are commanded to have.