Christian Virtue
Christian Virtue
Christian Virtue
We understand that at the end of the day, no matter how essential laws are, they
remain useless unless they are implemented by human beings. In the end, we
rely on how much human persons value the law, or value peace, for that matter.
When we value something, we are more than willing to keep it. We enjoy doing it
even if it requires much of our time and energy.
Good moral values lead to good habits. Good habits are virtues.
In working for peace, virtues are required. Working for peace demands not only
laws but the moral attitude of people to constantly choose to do the good and
develop virtues such as prudence (the ability to govern and discipline oneself by
the use of reason), justice, fortitude (strength of mind that enables a person to
encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage.), temperance
(moderation in action, thought, or feeling), faith (complete trust or confidence in
someone or something), hope (feeling of expectation and desire for a certain
thing to happen), and love (an intense feeling of deep affection) which are clarified
and elevated by Christ and inspired by the Holy Spirit. These virtues – especially justice
and love – are essential in building a peaceful community.
Justice
In a society like ours, where corruption, discrimination, and countless forms of violence
are common, justice is the most important thing in our country.
Justice is the deep dedication to treating others fairly. It gives all people the authority to
uphold the rights that are fundamental (guaranteed by natural law) and established by
society (civil law). It takes down the barriers to peace. It rewards those who uphold
human dignity and punishes those who harm peace.
What is peace? - peace is where
we are free from any disturbance
or noise.
TYPES OF JUSTICE
Knowing these types of justice helps us identify how justice operates in complex human
relationships.
1. Commutative Justice - (Comes from the latin word “commutare”: com (with) +
mutare (change), which means to exchange one thing with another. It focuses on
the obligation of one person to another because of a specific relationship they
establish by reason of agreements, transactions, or contracts. Sometimes
commutative justice is called contractual justice because it regulates the
exchange of goods and services that takes place according to what is agreed
upon between parties. The goal is to promote equality between what is given and
what is expected in return as much as possible. This is easy to attain when it
comes to agreements over goods that can be measured. For example, the
amount of money spent on food preparation is easy to compute. So it is also
easy to determine if commutative justice is attained by the selling price of the
food. But when it comes to services, justice is largely based on what is agreed
upon by the parties involved. In a hairdresser-client relationship, for instance,
strict equivalence is hard to follow because the level of satisfaction of the client
and the quality of service rendered by the hairdresser are difficult to measure.
Therefore, justice is achieved when two parties both keep their part of the
agreement.
However, this is certainly a difficult assignment because one must take into
account both the limited resources available to the government and the demands
and abilities of the population. Calculating what is equal is a simple mathematical
process, but figuring out what is fair is a very difficult one. But it is exactly what
the government is required to do. It should be dedicated to justice by providing
products and services fairly to all of its constituents.
While the government is required to do so, it must also respect personal rights
and effort. The principle of fairness is taught by the Church. This means that the
government must let smaller groups, such as families and small towns, take
charge of their own welfare if they are capable and their efforts are legal. In other
words, the government should only intervene if the people are unable to satisfy
their needs in smaller groupings and should control their activities if they violate
the law. Justice is best served when all parties involved are empowered to
support themselves while keeping the common good in mind.
4. Social Justice - This type of justice also has to do with the relationship between
society and its members, but includes institutions, systems, and structures of society.
It is a fact that not only individual human beings can be guilty of injustice. There are
social structures that are unjust (structural sins). These arrangements make it harder
for people to live a dignified existence or make evil easy. Individual efforts are
undoubtedly required to resist the existence of these terrible structures. However,
history has shown that individual contributions, no matter how important, are
insufficient. Individual efforts are frequently insufficient to address the richness and
scope of structural and institutional inequalities. Their relative success generally
fades, and they provide no long-term answer to social problems. What social justice
demands is for individuals to band together and form institutions or structures to
address social issues. The emphasis is on structural injustice, which causes people
to suffer. The solution is not something personal or temporary, such as patchwork
repair. For example, if the problem is an unfair tax legislation, the solution can be a
reform of the law or an entirely new law (structural change).
One sad thing, however, is the poor's social participation. They do not have the
resources, skills, and opportunities that would enable them to take part in social
affairs. Poverty robs them of a lot of things, including the confidence to speak up
and demand what is rightfully theirs.
Truly, this is the big challenge of social justice. The poor must be given the
chance to actively participate in community life. They must be able to contribute
to and, at the same time, benefit from the community. Otherwise, the society
continues to be seriously threatened. Crime and violence occur when people are
denied their fundamental rights and dignity. Finding the root causes of crime and
violence is therefore crucial, especially those linked to the structural injustice of
poverty.