We have been taught from a very early age that fairness matters. It’s a well-worn loop that plays in our head that says “If someone gets what I am getting - but hasn’t put in as much work as I have then I’m being cheated.”
I like to use this example: I was dolling out some candy to my kids in exchange for their help in cleaning the house (because I believe in the power of bribery) and one of my daughters actually counted the microscopic candy Nerds I gave to her and then eye-balled the candy in her sisters palm and proclaimed “Hey! She got the same as me! I put away the towels AND did the dishes; that’s way more work than she did! That’s not fair!” Yet, no mention was made that she is 13 years old and her sister is only 5 years old. I’m confident that I need not elaborate this point. If there’s a single parent in this parish who hasn’t heard “It’s not fair” about a billion times, I’ll eat my hat. This is a light-hearted example of the key distinction between “fair” and “equal” that Pope Francis has made repeatedly during his pontificate.
Our equality lies in each and every person’s inherent dignity and value as a child of God. But when it comes to justice, what is “fair” is not everyone getting the same, but everyone getting what they need. Just as parents would not treat all their children exactly the same (“equally”) if one of their children had special needs, so too, in our family of the church when one of our members needs more than the usual share of time, resources and encouragement we are called to bend and meet those needs as best as we are able.
“Basic justice calls for the establishment of a floor of material well-being on which all can stand. This is a duty of the whole of society and it creates particular obligations for those with greater resources. Catholic social teaching does not maintain that a flat, arithmetical equality of income and wealth is a demand of justice, but it does challenge economic arrangements that leave large numbers of people impoverished and lacking basic necessities.” (Economic Justice for All: Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy U.S. Bishops, 1986, #74)
Christian spirituality teaches that our right to private property is not an absolute one. It must be subordinated to the common good, to the fact that the goods of the earth are intended for all. No person, group of persons, or nation may have a surplus of goods if others lack the basic necessities. We are morally obliged to come to the aid of those in need. In giving such aid we are not “doing our good thing for God.” This is not charity, but serving justice. Helping the poor is not an issue of personal virtue and generosity, but something that is demanded of all followers of Jesus.
So, until the present immoral situation within the world, that goes directly against the teachings of Christ, where some individuals and nations have excess while others lack even the most basic of necessities, “fair” is not everyone getting the same, but everyone getting what they need.
Send your "Crazy Catholic Questions" to Lisa Brown at dre@ctredeemer.org or read past columns at: http://crazycatholicquestions.blogspot.com.
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