I was glad to catch an interview that Marvin Olasky did with Gary Haugen, president and CEO of International Justice Mission — a group I don’t know much about, but greatly appreciate their cause: securing justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. Haugen is the author of the recent book Just Courage: God’s Great Expedition for the Restless Christian
Question: The term “social justice” is often used by the left. How can conservative Christians recapture that term without abandoning their political principles?
Haugen: We must return to the basics. The pursuit of a just society is a very fundamental biblical calling and has always been a bedrock commitment of thoughtful conservatism. We are not talking about nuanced social engineering projects. We are talking about protecting the most basic liberties of poor people made in the image of God—the right not to be raped, illegally detained, assaulted, dispossessed, and enslaved. This is still a great struggle and Christians are called in this generation to fight as they always have in history.
Check it out (the entire interview may only be available to World Magazine subscribers).