Chapter 5
Social Justice
The Charter for Human Responsibility
I was very pleased that the Drafting Committee of the Movement for Christian Democracy listed each of the six foundation principles - social justice, respect for life, reconciliation, active compassion, empowerment and good stewardship under the working title 'A Charter for Human Responsibility'. First, it was a recognition that these concerns were not mutually exclusive. I confess to bewilderment when people who say they are for peace have no respect for life; when people tell me they care for the unborn but are indifferent to the vulnerable young woman faced with a whole host of practical challenges; when concern for every other species excludes concern for our own; when human rights are worth defending in Central America but not Eastern Europe, or vice versa; when partnership and co-operation are remedies for others but good old confrontation will do for you; when poverty and social justice are issues solely for Socialists and wealth creation and prosperity matters solely for Conservatives; when the easy distribution of 'hard porn' or the broadcasting of programmes revelling in violence are for the moralists but the same morality excludes a concern for the hungry, powerless and degraded of the under-developed world. All of these things hang together and Christians should be uninhibited in saying so. Second, the idea of a Charter for Human Responsibility is refreshing too. We are far too reticent about reminding people of their responsibilities to each other: the next-door neighbour who plays heavy metal throughout the night, as well as the profitable company that closes its local factory without regard for the future of the people who work there; the litter lout or the rubbish tipper, as well as the big river polluter or emitter of acid rain; the lack of responsibility in each case leads to the breakdown of personal relations between offender and aggrieved, and the consequences of such a breakdown are amplified in international relations. In other words from the President or Prime Minister to the churchyard mouse, let's hear less about 'my rights' and more about our duties and our responsibilities. I have always supported the principle of incorporating the European Convention of Human Rights in a Bill of Rights but I am less and less certain that such legislation