We’re reading a book for our JustFaith class by George S. Johnson titled Beyond Guilt: Christian Response to Suffering
There is a saying that helps explain this challenge to work for justice, not just for charity. It goes like this: “If people are hungry you can give them some fish and they will live another day. It’s called relief. But if you not only give a fish, but teach them how to fish for themselves they will be helped to feed themselves in the future.” This is often called development. That sounds good but it can be misleading if it is not followed with the next step. There is a third part of that saying that is critical to our efforts to move beyond guilt. We must not only offer the fish (relief) and assistance in knowing how to fish themselves (development), but we must move over in the pond and give them a place to fish. Or as someone has added, we must stop polluting the pond where they fish and give them a fair price for their fish. This third step has many facets to it. It is called working for justice, fairness. Justice includes efforts to end oppression and unfair practices of what Walter Wink calls the domination system. Moving from charity to justice is difficult because it calls for careful listening, increased awareness and critical thinking about attitudes and values that have brought us to this current crisis.
I thought this was an interesting addition to the old metaphor. I feel like I’m struggling to reserve more than my fair share of the pond. I think most of us are doing that. I don’t know what to do about it, but awareness of the issue can be the beginning of living more simply and fairly.