Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1949-09-01

ourselves that JUS $500 sz'a' 1'H'As
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 to de-
mOcracy by the organized
workers of the world, for ex-
ample, in the push they have
given to free and universal ed
ucatiOn. But democracy is older
than the labor movement, is
older than July 4, 1776, is older
than the Magma Charta, is old
er than the Roman empire, in
which one of many notices was
'Let justice be done even if
the sky caves I'M"
Justice and democracy 60 back
to the ancient Hebrews, the people
who wrote the Old Testament. 1t
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 GOO
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 49 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 II
they had less money.
Psalms 70 and 80 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.
If things are bad we are to blame
for it; if they are going to be any
better, we shall have to work for
it. Every appeal to king, in the
Old Testament, when translated
into terms of a democratic coun-
try, means an appeal to the poo
pie.
The Little People
JUSTICE always has to be con-
cerned with the little people. It
was true in the simple little world
of the ancient Hebrews. it is just
as true in our global complex
world, that the strong will always
exploit the weak if there is not
hand to stop them.
God is always for the "poor,"
the "children of the needy"
and he is always against the
"0ppressOr." 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 explOiter,
any man or group Of men who
will use power 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
an epidemic or made homeless by
fires; but it goes far beyond this
1t will mean working for conditions
such that no one will be forced &c
live in unsanitary firetraps.
copyright by the international coun
elf Of Religious Education on behalf Of
10 Protestant denominations. keleaset
By WNU Features.
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