Greetings guys, read & remain blessed.

Social justice is the practice whereby we make sure that there is no oppression or discrimination against anyone in the society on the grounds of tribe, nationality, race, sex, religious belief, political association or socioeconomic status (poverty).

It recognises that all men are created equal and all are therefore equal before the law. Social justice seeks to uphold the rule of law and the dignity of man.

True religion is one in which we combine together the rituals and ceremonial aspects of our faith with its moral requirements. The ritual aspect concerns regular worship of God on Sundays or on holy days, and payment of tithes and church dues.

The moral demands of our religion is the practice of righteousness in human relationship through acts of justice, kindness, love, charity and forgiveness. Indeed, it is not true religion if we worship God on Sundays and neglect to practice righteousness for the rest of the week.

In the time of prophet Amos, there was no social justice and no true religion. Social injustice was the order of the day; oppression of the poor, miscarriage of justice and commercial corruption. Social injustice went hand in hand with false religion. The people attended worship regularly and paid their tithes, but did not practice justice, mercy and righteousness. Hence, God's message through the prophet Amos to the Israelites to turn away from social injustice and irreligiosity and practice social justice and true religion.

The situation in our respective countries today is not different from that of the time of Amos. There is oppression of the poor, lack of justice in courts and rampant commercial corruption. We are quicker to go to church and pray than to practice true religion by doing what God wants us to do. This bad practice must stop.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Going back to the story of Amos. He claimed that there was no social justice in Israel during his days. This was because of the social evil which were rampant in his time. The social vices included the cheating and exploitation of the poor, commercial corruption and lack of justice in the land. Amos condemned the oppression of the poor. Also, even the poor among the people who could not pay their debts were sold for ridiculous sums. According to Amos: "...they sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals..". In taking loans from the rich, the poor were to leave behind their garments as a pledge that the money would be paid back as and when due. And the law required that such a cloth should be taken good care of by the rich. But the reverse was the case here. The rich used such cloths as mats when they went to worship: "....they lay themselves down beside every altar upon garments taken in pledge.". This was indeed a very wicked act portrayed.

The poor were even cheated when they went to the markets to buy things. This was because of the widespread trade malpractices. The traders dealt deceitfully with false weights and balances. This they did by making either the ephah small or the shekel great. In some cases, they sold remnanriof the wheats as wholesome wheat to the poor. What a bad thing to do!

The women of Samaria contributed to the exploitation and oppression of the poor. They were greedy in their demands for luxury and the good things of life. Their greed forced them to put pressure on their husbands to provide more and more things for them. Their husbands in turn exploited and oppressed the poor and the needy in order to satisfy the insatiable materialism of their wives. Amos condemned the women of Samaria for contributing to the plight and suffering of the poor. The prophet referred to them as "...cows of Baashan, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their I, 'bring that we may drink'..."

After being exploited and chested, the poor had no means of fighting back. This was because thee was no justice in the land. All the judges were corrupt. According to Amos, the judges had turned justice into wormwood, that is, they had corrupted the course of justice. This they did by taking bribed from the rich to give judgement in their favour. The fair-minded among them who protested against the rape of justice were shouted down and denounced by the rich.

The Significance of Amos' call for Social Justice

Amos' condemnation of social injustice in Israel can be paralleled with prevailing conditions in our society today. There is oppression of the poor. The poor who fell into debt were at the mercy of Shylock money lenders. They were disgraced and dehumanised. Today, we have traders who cheat and exploit the poor at the markets. Some use false weights and measures to cheat the poor. Petrol filling stations attendant ms tamper with the pumps to cheat the public. Some traders sell adulterated cooking oil. The rich and the powerful in the society influence the course of justice in the country. They bribe the judges to give judgement in their favour thereby denying justice to the poor.

Like Amos, we must condemn all these acts of social injustice and join other Christians in promoting social justice.

I hope you enjoyed this article, see you in my next article.