The Stone Rejected by the Builders

Social justice: the expression evokes images of protests in the streets, economic and political debates about human and civil rights, unions, wages, welfare programs for the poor, foreign aid, immigration, race conflicts, and even climate change. All seemingly intractable problems. Taking the wrong side of the debate can lead to exclusion from our inclusive society. One thing is always missing in our secular, pluralistic society: God and religion. The Church herself seems to enter the debate on the world's terms. Another thing is debated but seen as disconnected from the realm of social justice: marriage and family. In the Church we find a division between "Social justice Catholics" and "Pro-life Catholics." Marriage, family, and children end up losers in the public debate, sacrificed to misconceptions about the common good. The contention of The Stone Rejected by the Builders is that social justice has to do with the right order of human social life and this is impossible without right religion and healthy family life; these are indeed matters of social justice; without these the common good is unattainable.