more thoughts on justice

I just read this in the book Inhabiting the Church (Wilson-Hartgrove, Stock and Otto) and thought I would share:

The call to justice is easily misunderstood. Thanks to our Western tradition, it is difficult to think of justice without assuming that it involves behaviour that conforms to an ethical or legal norm. We are used to finding our justice in the courts. When eighth-century prophets such as Micah speak of mispat they are saying something different:

the eighth century prophets use the terms "justice/righteousness" to refer to the fulfillment of responsibilities that arise out of particular relationships within the community...Each relationship has its specific obligation, and all relationships ultimately are bound by relationship to God...When the demands of various relationships are fulfilled, justice or righteousness prevails and there is shalom,"peace" or "welfare". In short, ethical responsibility is not based on an abstract norm outside of, or above, the relationships of a community, but is motivated by the demands and blessings of life in community, within which persons are bound together in various relations and in relation with God. (Anderson, Eighth Century Prophets, 43)