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Exercising social justice does not only mean confronting those who violate a person’s dignity or rights. It can also mean doing ordinary things that help others grow in their relationship with God and others. But before this can happen, the tools needed to promote an equal society for all must first be cultivated.
Peace, freedom and ethnicity are some of the social values that are often taken for granted. Most of the time, peace is simply interpreted as the absence of violence, freedom as the absence of force or restrictions, and ethnicity as being unapologetically different. However, only with a genuine reinterpretation of these values can one say that a society is truly just.
These days, the term “social justice” is regarded loosely, as if it were a mere utopian concept that cannot be achieved. Therefore, one cannot fully say that a society is truly free until a better understanding and dispensation of social justice in the context of upholding human rights can be attained.
Despite the many difficulties faced, advocacies and campaigns by many concerned groups to push for disarmament and arms control have slowly but surely gained ground over the decades. Aside from non-governmental organizations, civil society has been thrust into the limelight as a key player in important deliberations in policy-making bodies and other important fora. Such an involvement by NGOs and civil society in this campaign has not only increased the voice and influence of advocates in policy deliberations but has also introduced new and clever ways to lobby for disarmament around the world.
Despite the enactment of regulations to control gun ownership over the years, the “long arm of the Philippine law” seems to be helpless in its campaign to curb, if not eliminate, the proliferation of loose firearms in the country. Only with a thorough re-examination of its laws, an unyielding assertion of its authority, and a firmer implementation of existing gun-related laws can the Philippines attain a safer, if not gunless, society.
Over the past 10 years, Control Arms Coalition has been pushing for a legally-binding Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which would bring the arms trade under control and would help prevent future arms transfers that fuel conflict, poverty and inequality. Despite the obstacles and difficulties, the Coalition’s campaign efforts finally paid off and have led to the signing of the Arms Trade Treaty by the world’s governments in 2013. In spite of this victory, however, much still needs to be done to ensure that both legal and illicit arms trade will no longer curtail human rights and claim further lives.
“Suffering” and “death” are the only two words that seem to characterize the devastation brought about by Typhoon Haiyan or Yolanda in Central Philippines, as clearly heard from victims’ stories and seen in the news. Despite the appaling destruction, though, “hope” and “joy” also shine forth amid that anguish – a hope and joy that can only come from the promise of Christ’s Resurrection.
Jesus’ Resurrection is the foundation of the Christian faith. However, without a clear understanding of why He died…or got killed…the Resurrection may become a mere supernatural tale to the uninitiated. Christ’s Death was caused by His desire for change: from old to new, from fear to love, from darkness to light.
In Latin America and Africa, where the Church continues to grow rapidly, the work of the Church was not always easy. Violence and political strife always compounded the work of priests, missionaries and lay persons. Even in the face of death, however, these modern-day martyrs served as a beacon of Christ wherever they went, spreading His message of love and the hope of the Resurrection.
Over time, the ever-changing political, social and economic landscape around the world has given rise to a new kind of journalism, one that seems to have shed the values of the once highly-esteemed journalistic profession. However, because
of the demands and challenges of today’s world, a new kind of journalism is needed, one that honors the time-honored values of the profession, one that places man, and not money, back at the center of the world…and much more.
