Justice and Entitlement in the Republic of God
CONFERENCE EXCERPT
by Frank Brennan
Zadok Perspectives Issue No. 62
Spring/Summer 1998/1999

Part 2

The fourth question is then a very personal question and for those with something of an Ignatian background it is a question of discernment. What am I going to give my energies to in terms of the politically achievable morally justified aspirations of this group in seeking a more just society? One in which the entitlements of all are recognised in the republic of God?

My final observation is the sort of thing I have written about in Legislating Liberty, that, for those of us who are of a Christian persuasion in a pluralistic and democratic society such as Australia, there are three further questions we have to ask ourselves. The first is about what we might call morality. What is the right or the wrong of this particular issue? What ought to be the situation in terms of our own personal conduct in terms in the way we would like to influence people in our circle?
But we have to admit that we are only a group of Christians. We are not the entire society and we are not the nation state and so we then have to move to the question: What ought be the social policy in relation to the question that we are confronting? Now we may have a view as a group of believers as to what is the moral good, what we would choose to do ourselves, what we would espouse to those who are members of our group, but that does not necessarily mean that it should be automatically reflected in the social policy of the day.

And the third question is: What ought the law be? How ought the sanction of the state be imposed (even upon those who are unwilling or upon those who take that contrary view to us) in order to achieve an outcome which is seen to be not only protective of individual rights but enhancing of the common good and in terms of something that enhances more the justice and the entitlement of those in the republic of God.

And so when I say in a fairly Jesuitical way that, yes, it is always necessary to be discerning on how this kingdom for which we pray is to come and break in hear and now; and, yes, it sometimes does require that one sup with the devil. In terms of those church people who like to maintain their moral purity in the political process, I have one comment. Those who would be critical of people who 'dirty their hands' in picking up the few crumbs off the table, arguing that one should keep ones hands clean waiting for the full loaf to be delivered, there is one observation you can make about them-sure enough they are not the ones who are starving.

To: Perspectives Issue 62

Cavan Brown Cavan Brown is the minister of Geraldton Baptist Church, WA, and is the author of Pilgrim Through Barren Land, Albatross, 1991, and the forthcoming The Blackfellas' Friend: a life of John Gribble (Access Press, 1999).