Quotes about Justice

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.

Lord my God, if I have done this and there is guilt on my hands—if I have repaid my ally with evil or without cause have robbed my foe—then let my enemy pursue and overtake me, let him trample my life to the ground and make me sleep in the dust. Psalm 7:3—5, NIV

Break the arm of the wicked man; call the evildoer to account for his wickedness that would not be found out. The Lord is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land. You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, so that mere earthly mortals will never again strike terror. Psalm 10:15—18, NIV

Not satisfied with endlessly pulling drowning men from the torrents rushing past, Day went upstream to see who was throwing the poor bastards into the water in the first place—and

The Gospel of liberation is bad news to all oppressors because they have defined their "freedom" in terms of slavery of others.

And yet the Christian gospel is more than a transcendent reality, more than "going to heaven when I die, to shout salvation as I fly." It is also an immanent reality—a powerful liberating presence among the poor right now in their midst, "building them up where they are torn down and propping them up on every leaning side." The gospel is found wherever poor people struggle for justice, fighting for their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The acceptance of the gift of freedom transforms our perception of our social and political existence.

Any analysis of the gospel which did not begin and end with God's liberation of the oppressed was ipso facto unchristian.

God's holiness … puts everything and everyone in their rightful place.

The unpopularity of an obviously right action should not hinder the execution of an obviously right decision.

Wherever there is interest and power to do wrong, wrong will generally be done.

Government is instituted to protect property of every sort; as well that which lies in the various rights of individuals, as that which the term particularly expresses. This being the end of government, which impartially secures to every man, whatever is his own