"Social Justice": Liberal Political Agenda or Moral Imperative? Kathleen McTigue, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee in Conversation

Within the larger effort to create a more healthy society, what is the difference between offering “service,” and partnering with people who want your help?

 

What is social justice? Why is social justice often perceived as synonymous with liberal political agendas?

 

Our show pushes back against the unexamined, often unconscious ways that we frame public questions using political or economic modes of thinking. We aim to be part of a growing association of people who are critical of the narrowness of political and economic categories, and who want to revive a vision of human flourishing that is grounded in the wisdoms of theological and moral philosophical tradition. We see these habits and ways of thinking as being pre-political, and foundational to a healthy and civil shared life in families, communities, economies, and, eventually, polities.

 

In short, we want to create a community that is grounded in curiosity, going deep, and shining light.

 

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Our email: whatingods@ribeye-media.com.

 

Learn more. Our website: www.whatingods.com.

 

Here are timecodes to help you navigate through today’s show:

 

03:18     Shayna introduces today’s guest, Kathleen McTigue.  

 

04:38     How does the history of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee reflect the animating spirit of America in that timeframe?

 

07:15     How would you define a “structural” injustice?

 

09:15     Do you agree with Kathleen’s analysis of the shortcomings of “service learning?” What are the implications of the conceptual shift from “serving” to “partnering?”

 

16:15     Is a sense of fairness innate in children? If so, is social justice just a “grown-up” version of this innate sense of fairness? What does this understanding of justice illuminate? What might be missing?

 

22:08     Why is social justice often thought of us synonymous with a liberal political agenda? Why isn’t abortion framed as a social justice issue? 

 

24:42     How adequate to define a just society is the definition: “You don’t desire, and get, for yourself, without desiring, and getting, for everybody else?