The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1949-09-01

~ py studying one Il IA ~
Sunday school les
son. But this is the ~
place to remind
ourselves that JUS l
tice as an ideal. DR.. Foreman
and democracy as
a means Of reaching that ideal.
were not born yesterday.
Labor Day will recall the
great services rendered - de-
mocracy by the srganized
workers Of Tie world. fer en-
ample, In he DasA hoy Aavo
given = free ana universal -
ucatien. But democracy b es1ee
thAn he labse Asve0so4, =
sades than yuly 1 171e, = sa1ee {.
Aan he Magma Chaxta, q ~
q than the Remain empire. h
which one q many msttees was
''Let Justice b Aeas svsa Y
Ne say caves INT"
Justice and democracy 90 back
% the ancient Hebrews. the people
who wrote the Old Testamsnt Il
was written In their laws. preached
by their prophets. sung in their
Psalms. But Of course they did not
invent it. They proclaimed it; but
Justice is older than the human
race. The whole Bible and not only
the Old Testament teaches that JUS
tice is rooted in the nature Of God
himself. No unjust person can be
called godly.
Songs of Justice
NUR Psalms for this week give
- us some valuable light on what
justice is. Some people think that
If everybody were rich, that would
be justice. Psalm 40 shows how
foolish that notion is. 1t says in al
most so many words, 'You can't
take it with you."
Riches do not spell happiness.
Making everybody rich might
mean making many people
miserable. Money by itself does
not cure the ills Of life, It may
make them worse Or even
create new ones. Many . fam
lily in the upper brackets" has
troubles that would vanish Il
they had less money.
Psalms 72 and 81 give us more
positive suggestions. Psalm u sees
it as the kings main duty to Judge
the people with righteousness and
justice. The king was the govern
ment, in those days: he was the
executive and the legislative and
the judicial branch of government
all rolled into one. In modern
terms, the business Of government
is something more than furnishing
police to lock up and punish wrongs
after they have been done.
The welfare Of the people is the
concern Of government. When pub
Lie officials take any other view Of
their Job, they are off the beam.
In a democracy, the government Is
the people, that is to say. ourselves.
II things are bad we are to blame
for it; II they are going to be any
better, we shall have to work for
It. Every appeal to a king, in the
Old Testament, when translated
into terms Of q democratic coun-
try. means an appeal to the peo-
pie.
The Little People
JUSTICE always has to be con-
cerned with the little people. II
was true in the simple little world
Of the ancient Hebrews. It L. just
- true in our slobal complex
world, that the strong will always
exploit the weak Il there Is not .
Hand to stop them.
God Is always for the "poor."
the "children Of the needy"
!, and he is always against the
"oppressor." In ancient Israel
the oppressor was usually the
big landowner who treated his
slaves with cruelty or under
paid his workers. Nowadays
the oppressor is any expioiter,
any man or group Of men who
will use pn,yer to squeeze out
or crash down the little man.
But justice is positive. not mega
tive. prevention and not cure only.
Concern for social justice includes
taking care Of people laid low by
IN epidemic or made homeless by
fires; but ii goes far beyond this.
Il win mean working for conditions
such that no one win be forced to
1--we IN unsanitary nretraps.
tcopxrtght BY ths international G"un
sN Of Religious Education % bchaAe g
70 Protestant denoMinat soas. HeAeAss(
~ WNU Features.