“Privilege aborts justice, leading judicial systems, power structures, and governments to treat a person or group preferentially–with more compassion and dignity than others–because of their citizenship, class, surname, social capital, sexual orientation, religion, or an aspect of their embodiment (race, gender, ethnicity, able-bodiness, attractiveness, and more). Judicially, privilege leads to unjust verdicts and social outcomes that exacerbate the preexisting gaps between the privileged and the disenfranchised. Justice systems render these oppressive judicial decisions without ever truly being held accountable for the social inequities they produce and reinforce. This unethical judicial legacy is alive and well today in the U. S.”
Dominique Dubois Gilliard, Subversive Witness: Scripture’s Call to Leverage Privilege. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2021, page 86.
Related posts:
Pastor Note #93: Religious Liberty, Privileged Christianity, and the Art of the Deal
Bible Note #59: Zacchaeus #3–Tax Collecting in Roman Palestine
Bible Note #48: Justice for the Weak–Ezekiel 34:11-22
Bible Note #69: A Grace-based Society after God’s Heart
Bible Note #64: Zechariah 7:9-10–A Rightly Ordered Society in God’s Eyes
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