Spring 2021
I’ve recently found myself struggling with seeking “justice.” While I sat, mouth agape, watching the Capitol Insurrection I heard many shouts for Justice. I saw signs about justice. I heard reporters questions of why being answered with “we want justice” and “this is for justice.” They didn’t sound very different from the activist marches I’ve participated in.
I immediately began to have a visceral reaction to my own “justice” work. I began researching what justice meant, what was the root word, what were some synonyms. I thought calling for justice meant ending oppression. I understand the Proud Boys feel oppressed but surely they don’t think that justice is giving them everything they want? Can it be justice if it’s at the expense of others? What level of expense is too much? Is inconvenience an expense?
I reached out to activist and progressive religious friends and asked them what justice meant and if the acts at the Capitol changed anything in that meaning for them. They responded for me to not let “them” (Capitol insurrectionists) win by taking away that word, because what would we lose next, religious, right, good? My response was that it all felt too binary, that it didn’t allow for two rights, only one right and one wrong. If everyone is screaming for justice, what is justice?
I’m still grappling with it. I definitely don’t have an understanding of anything quite yet. I still twitch uncomfortably when I read on the UUA page that “justice is at the core of our faith.” (www.uua.org/justice-programs) But I do have some thoughts about my motivation for seeking a social justice based theology, as I understood justice before the Capitol.
I seek social change based on a belief that everyone is worthy of unconditional love and belonging.
I will admit I may not have had the words to describe that desire until Brené Brown put them in my mind. I have found inspiration and motivation for this in many places. I have strongly resonated with the UU movement, Side with Love. I have become deeply committed to dismantling White Supremacy Culture and engaging in Beloved Conversations. I hear new insights when reading philosophers, secular or religious, educators, sociologists, psychologists, anywhere and everywhere.
I am finding a hope in progressive religion. I am healing my own personal trauma with Christianity. I am finding Saint Augustine’s love centered approach to Christianity and new messages from reading the Bible after listening to Rob Bell. I am connecting with Christian UUs and hearing their personal stories and feeling their love.
In the end my source for justice comes from my heart. From love. From community.