Doing the Right Thing: Praxis for Social Justice as Spiritual Practice

l                                            Doing the Right Thing

Praxis for Social Justice as Spiritual Practice

Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D.

"We are here to abet creation and to witness it, to notice each other's beautiful face and complex nature so that creation need not play to an empty house."

—Annie Dillard

Introduction: Discovering Praxis for Social Justice

I first encountered the phrase "praxis for social justice" in the spring of 2007 when I began teaching in the BA Program in Liberal Studies at Antioch University Santa Barbara. The program's chair, Professor Dick Morrow, introduced me to an educational philosophy that would become central to my life's work. The university's mission approached learning through an experiential blend of theory and practice they termed "praxis for social justice."

As the university catalog articulated it:

Praxis for social justice combines learning and doing for the purposes of encouraging critical consciousness, ethical reasoning, and socially responsible behavior. It is a cycle of action, reflection, and transfer, wherein cultural differences are understood and valued, where human dignity, the earth, and future generations are respected, and all are encouraged to participate in bringing about a more equitable and compassionate world.

As a sociologist with a passion for social change, I was deeply moved to join an educational institution committed to creating a just and equitable social world while integrating real-world experience with classroom learning. Much of my prior academic work had been explicitly concerned with power, inequality, and domination. I had long been active in various social movements—labor, feminist, LGBTQ+, ecological, and anti-imperialist. Over the years, "praxis for social justice" has become the dominant thread of my life purpose, weaving together my intellectual work with my teaching and community activism.

Specifically, I work as an anti-oppression educator concerned with building multicultural alliances to advance an agenda for justice for all people. This work is grounded in critical analysis of capitalism, patriarchy, and imperialism. As a community activist, I advocate for those experiencing mental illness and homelessness, often doing street outreach and case management. As a Unitarian humanist who celebrates intellectual freedom as a religious right, I place emphasis on social justice work as a spiritual practice rather than focusing on creeds and doctrines. The notion of praxis for social justice bridges the separate aspects of my life and provides a central core value to my autobiography.

From Skepticism to Spirituality

For most of my adult life, I was not particularly religious. While I was raised in a Christian home and attended church weekly throughout my childhood, by age twelve I had absorbed enough of the scientific tradition to become a skeptic of anything that suggested superstition or the supernatural. Skepticism became my attitude toward truth-claims concerning phenomena that contradicted my understanding of the world or that I had not directly experienced or evaluated with evidence. When confronted with extraordinary claims, I required extraordinary evidence. I have not yet seen convincing evidence for UFOs, supernatural beings, or magical creatures. It is not that these phenomena cannot exist—rather, I have not seen proofs sufficient to persuade me, and therefore I suspend or reject such claims. Given such an attitude, I remain agnostic on many concerns. Agnosticism affirms the mystery and uncertainty that is immanent in the unfolding of creation.

As a young adult, I pursued graduate study in social science and became particularly interested in critical social theory and the social psychology of situated action. Now, in my later years, I find myself an active member of a vibrant church community and wanting to articulate my spirituality. My attempt to "build my own theology" draws upon numerous sources, biographical threads, and academic interests to weave together an approach to spirituality centered in praxis for social justice. "Praxis" is an ancient Greek word for action, as in the word "practice." For me, spirituality is not so much about beliefs concerning God or the nature of salvation, but rather about my actions in this world.

Critical Theory and the Question of Religion

My engagement with critical social theory has been one of the core intellectual influences on my life and on my approach to spirituality. While Marx stated that religion is "the sigh of the oppressed creature," "the heart of a heartless world," and "the soul of soulless conditions," he also famously called it "the opium of the people." The image of religion as an oppressive tool imposed by ruling classes to pacify the working classes is cynical in its totalizing indictment. It denies the genuine religious experiences of ordinary people and the essential positive social functions served by religion and religious institutions.

During Marx's day, the Holy Roman Church was still dominated by wealthy, influential families who offered the rich assurance of salvation while telling the poor not to worry about changing their real-world circumstances because their afterlives were what truly mattered. In that context, it was reasonable to view religious rituals as a numbing drug that made the pains of alienation and injustice bearable for exploited workers. But this need not be the case. I see certain forms of spirituality as capable of relieving alienation and promoting social justice.

I am not a Marxist, owing to powerful libertarian and autonomous impulses that run through my thinking. Marx's dream of a world without alienation, in which each human being can reach their highest potential and no one is unfairly exploited, remains powerful. His vision of socialism is scientific, rational, and dialectically informed. Yet his vision of acceptable means to achieve those ends involves deeply authoritarian practices, such as post-revolutionary state control by a single party. My political thinking draws upon several strands of contemporary anarchism, including post-anarchism, feminist anarchism, and ecological anarchism. Nevertheless, several key concepts in my spiritual philosophy come from Marx and the critical theoretical tradition he launched: praxis, social justice, consciousness, ideological critique, a vision of a just society, and alienation.

What Is Social Justice?

As a critical sociologist, I have long been interested in the sources and manifestations of social injustice—economic inequality, interpersonal oppression, and unequal access to schooling, healthcare, jobs, and housing. I seek to understand the local and global processes that both hinder and engender justice, and hope to grasp the various forms people employ to organize and mobilize for change. I ongoingly bear witness to social inequality, suffering, oppression, and injustice. I am developing a prophetic voice to criticize injustice and challenge regimes of domination.

Social justice can be defined as the state in which dignity and respect for all is accompanied by equal access to basic human needs. This definition incorporates both a "redistributive claim"—which seeks a more just distribution of resources and goods—and a claim in the "politics of recognition," in which historically marginalized groups are accorded equal respect. Thus, social justice in contemporary usage includes both economic fairness and interpersonal fairness: treating all others with dignity and respect. Other dimensions include recognizing the importance of human rights and creating genuine solidarity in our society.

Three Approaches to Social Change

Archbishop Desmond Tutu observed: "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." Who in our society is not treated with dignity and respect? Who is denied equal access to basic human needs? In North America, we live in a deeply stratified society in which most wealth is concentrated in the hands of a very small and powerful elite. Many working poor lack medical insurance and affordable housing. Food insecurity affects millions. Moreover, these issues are compounded by gender and racial dimensions that greatly increase the problems for women and people of color. As a homeless outreach worker, I daily encounter people with mental illness sleeping in doorways and searching for food in garbage cans.

Reflecting on community efforts to ameliorate the lives of the poor, marginalized, and exploited reveals three broad approaches:

Charity refers to giving poor people what they need for free. Often what they receive is of inferior quality. The food served at rescue missions is not what you would eat at home, and the ponchos handed out at warming centers last about a day. But charity serves a vital purpose because the hungry and cold have immediate needs. The worst thing about charity is that it does nothing to address root causes nor empower those in need. The paternalism of charitable giving often presupposes that there will always be haves and have-nots.

Development approaches regard progress as a natural process that brings "backward" regions into alignment with Western practices. By encouraging subsistence farmers to adopt corporate agricultural practices, we assume that they want and need to be more like us. Frances Moore Lappé has demonstrated in "Twelve Myths of World Hunger" how agricultural assistance by rich countries to poor countries often exacerbates problems by creating dependency. Development approaches typically rest on "liberal" views of poverty that place the problem with the poor themselves, effectively blaming victims for their own situations.

Social justice work sees the world as deeply flawed. The suffering of the poor results from structural violence that is human-made. To work for social justice is to work with poor people and other targeted groups as they struggle to change their situations. Overall, it is concerned with empowering people to take on dominant structures and powers to eliminate the underlying root causes of poverty and oppression.

Modernity, Reflexivity, and the Power of Human Action

I want to argue that we living in modernity are more aware than ever before that our actions have consequences in shaping the world. In elaborating praxis for social justice as a spiritual practice, I draw upon concepts from Critical Social Theory—an intellectual discipline spanning philosophy and social science. Emerging in the Frankfurt School of the 1930s, Critical Theory has the practical intent to criticize and subvert domination in all its forms. While Critical Theory has revealed how religions legitimate asymmetrical power relations, the approach outlined here draws upon it to enhance awareness of the roots of domination and to help compel changes in consciousness and action.

"Modernity" refers to our contemporary epoch—the modern age—in contrast to ancient history or the Middle Ages. Yet we must differentiate between types of modern societies and perhaps different phases of modernity. Paris in 1848 was vastly different from Paris today; Dubai today differs enormously from Lagos. In some sense, they are all "modern cities."

The great social theorists of the nineteenth century saw major transformations occurring at the societal level. For Marx, the emergence of capitalism was the defining feature of the new age. For Durkheim, it was changes in the nature of social bonds—the shift from "mechanical solidarity" to "organic solidarity." Max Weber saw increasing rationalization as key to understanding modern life.

The sociologist Anthony Giddens defines modernity as associated with: (1) a set of attitudes toward the world as open to transformation by human intervention; (2) economic institutions, especially industrial production and a market economy; and (3) political institutions, including the nation-state and mass democracy. As a result of these characteristics, modernity is vastly more dynamic than any previous type of social order. Unlike any preceding culture, modern society lives in the future rather than the past.

The idea of the world as open to transformation by human intervention is crucial to praxis for social justice. We are now more aware than ever before that we can—and perhaps must—construct different ways of social life for the future survival of our species and our planet. That we are conscious of other imaginal worlds, and conscious that our actions will create a different world, are particularly modern phenomena. We know that the world will change and that those changes will result from changes in our actions.

In earlier times in human history, people thought of the world as simply "the way it is," not significantly connected to their personal behavior. The world was seen as existing "out there," constraining personal action but not really created by it. With every action, we make the world. With every action, we potentially make the world better or worse. Our ordinary activities count, for it is through these everyday behaviors that the social world is ongoingly constituted as an orderly event.

The Reflexive Attitude

There are several meanings of "reflexivity." At its most basic, reflexivity is a universal human condition involving monitoring one's own actions, enabling the maintenance and transformation of social relations. As Giddens states: "Reflexivity is a defining characteristic of all human action. All human beings routinely 'keep in touch' with the grounds of what they do as an integral element of doing it."

A second understanding operates at the institutional level and is specifically modern: "The reflexivity of modern social life consists in the fact that social practices are constantly examined and reformed in the light of incoming information about those very practices, thus constitutively altering their character." Society, in this version, is both the subject and object of rational intervention. We are aware that our historically specific social practices can alter the course of history. We alter our behavior in light of what we ongoingly learn about the world, and we are aware that through our changed behavior we, in turn, change the world.

We are no longer tied to the past as we were in pre-modern societies, where actions were legitimated by their relation to tradition and defended because "that was the way things have always been done." No longer justifying our actions by tradition frees us to create new and different realities, new and different social worlds. The idea that the world can be changed by our actions and interventions is a defining feature of modernity.

For example, I can have a reflexive attitude about my gender role performance—an awareness that I can assume masculine privilege at times and go along with societally-given masculine norms, or I can choose to "undo" gender, to withdraw from masculine privileges, to be a "gender traitor," a feminist man, a gender-bending nonconformist. I am aware that patriarchy, in part, exists through my actions and can be changed by my actions.

Reflexive Praxis: Acting on the World with Awareness

I have called my approach to sociology "Critical Interactionism" and defined it as the "microsociology of domination." Through my teaching and writing, I urge everyone to be participant observers of how societies structured in dominance are ongoingly reproduced all around us through our actions and inactions, and the actions and inactions of others. We need to examine the everyday local practices through which power and hierarchy are constituted and resisted.

Becoming an "ally" in struggles against injustice involves understanding our own roles in systems of oppression. Everyday oppression sometimes occurs through inaction rather than overt actions. The passivity of well-meaning people, fueled by ignorance and indifference, is critical to the operation of dominator culture. We often live in denial, refusing to acknowledge the consequences of our behavior.

Because oppressions exist as an interconnected web, reinforcing one another, our inactions are essential to the system's perpetuation. In "going along" with oppressive actions, we help maintain the status quo. Going along with oppressive actions, we play an essential part in reproducing hierarchical systems. This is unreflexive behavior—routine actions operating within ideologies that serve to maintain and reproduce the status quo.

To engage in reflexive praxis is to take action in the social world based upon awareness and insight into our role in perpetuating or not perpetuating societies structured in dominance. Employing a reflexive attitude, we hopefully do not simply "go along" with the status quo. We do not perform the "routine" and "polite" and "taken-for-granted" accepted behavior, but instead choose to use our actions as interventions in the world—interventions with the potential of making the world a better place.

A Vision of the Sacred

"Religion is our human response to the dual reality of being alive and having to die. We are not the animal with tools or the animal with advanced language. We are the religious animal. Because we know that we are going to die, we question what life means."

—Forrest Church

As a Unitarian humanist, I acknowledge that my vision of the sacred is probably quite different from most people's. I believe that by rediscovering the elementary emotions that accompany experiences of the sacred—particularly wonder, awe, gratitude, compassion, and hope—we can find ourselves in the presence of the ultimate reality that energizes all beings. I reject both institutional religions and nihilistic secularism. I am unable to believe in omnipotent supernatural beings and miraculous interventions. Still, I am drawn to a vision of the sacred grounded in individual spiritual quests, experiences of community, and struggles for social justice.

My spirituality is a source of hope as I struggle to bring reverence and compassion to the center of my life. It maintains its vitality when it stands as witness to the sacredness of life. An instinct for the sacred is triggered by our awareness of the limitless creativity in the unfolding of creation, the fragility of the human condition, and our dependence on a source of life beyond our control. The sacred is our experience of transcendent moments when we overflow with love.

I insist that recovering an experience of the sacred is essential to the future of our planet. In seeking spiritual renewal, I retreat from the distractions of everyday life and engage in self-exploration. A quiet moment is necessary to break free from the cacophony of culture. I do not know the ultimate whys and wherefores of our existence. The cloud of unknowing envelops the mystery of being. Some knowledge remains beyond my reach. I affirm my ignorance, remain a skeptic, and continue to challenge conventional authority.

But what is the sacred? The sacred seems ineffable—we cannot find appropriate words to express our understanding of that which is in all but greater than all. To define sacred as "worthy of worship or veneration" avoids stating what properties make something sacred. I continually return to our human response to the wondrous mystery of creation's unfolding—feelings of awe and humility—and know that these feelings are at the root of spirituality and thus the sacred.

Praxis Spirituality: Where Action Becomes Sacred

The contemplative moments in which we re-evaluate our habitual modes of being in the world and choose NOT to reproduce the status quo but to instead engage in creative interventions that change the world—these are imbued with sacredness. This is the heart of praxis spirituality.

Praxis spirituality emphasizes:

1. We must live our ideals
2. We are responsible for the nature of this world and its problems
3. Our mundane actions in everyday life count
4. Our actions have consequences, some of which are unintended
5. We must develop reflexivity to grasp how our actions produce and reproduce injustices, oppression, and the ills of our world

The reader will notice that my personal theology makes no reference to God, salvation, or the origins of the universe. While traditional theologies focus on beliefs, my approach to spirituality focuses on real-world actions. Praxis is often described as putting one's thoughts into action, living one's ideals, or "walking the talk." I reject collections of supposed beliefs as the defining feature of personal theologies because of the total hypocrisy of our modern world. Rather than focusing on what people say they believe, I think it is better to look at what they do.

The Sequential Unfolding of Praxis

I see five steps in the sequential unfolding of praxis:

1. An individual reflexively doing "normal" accepted action, thus maintaining the status quo
2. Something makes the person stop and contemplate doing something different, something more aligned with their ethics
3. Before acting, we imagine other people's responses to our creative interventions
4. The person does the new behavior—the act is completed; praxis happens
5. Consequences follow, including potential sanctioning sequences, revolutions, or a return to the status quo

Praxis can be anxiety-ridden. Habits are predictable routines that generate feelings of trust. The established modes of daily life continually "re-groove" attitudes and cognitive outlooks that hold down potential sources of anxiety. The familiar is reassuring. When we stop and contemplate the ethics of our actions and change direction, we experience an epiphany—a "sacred moment." Praxis is the ultimate experience because it starts with personal change and leads to global transformation. Knowing that we create the world is a radical change in consciousness because we consider the good of the commons.

From Mystified to Emancipatory Consciousness

Societies structured in dominance are marked by what Erica Sherover-Marcuse called a "mystified consciousness." This encompasses "modes of being, ways of acting and experiencing oneself and one's existence to which people have become accustomed, attached and even 'addicted' on an affective level."

Our habitual modes of being in the world seem natural and normal to us, and we can be blinded to the fact that we reproduce systems of domination through their instantiation. The road to liberation is found when humans move from mystified consciousness to emancipatory consciousness. This is no easy task, as the habits of oppression and injustice are deeply embedded in our subjectivity and are often unconscious. A rigorous process of "unlearning" is necessary, in which one scrutinizes the very presuppositions of one's ideas, one's language, and one's emotional demeanor in the social world. We begin to stop participating in reproducing hierarchy and hatred.

In my classes on "unlearning oppression," students from majority populations become "allies" to those from minority populations. An ally refuses to tolerate the subjugation of social groups of which they are not a part. They stop acts of domination in their presence and no longer participate in perpetuating a society structured in dominance.

I want to highlight the spiritual nature of this transformation in the practice of subjectivity. The praxis spirituality outlined here provides a liberation cosmology and a vision of social justice linked to our mundane activities in the everyday world. These everyday beliefs, rituals, and practices are imbued with sacredness. To become aware of one's involvement in reproducing domination and to choose to cease that involvement is a radically spiritual act, for by identifying with the downtrodden and disinherited, one makes a moral claim that all human beings are equal and warrant dignity, respect, and love.

Envisioning a Just Society

A vision of a just society is our imaginary of a better social world in which all people are treated with dignity and respect, a sense of fairness pervades all institutional operations, human suffering is minimized, and we live in harmony with the planet. These imaginings of how things should be are sacred visions that emerge best in collective dialogue and through spiritual practices involving deep contemplation.

Human beings are enmeshed in a web of living beings. Our interconnections with other humans and all other living beings are at the heart of many of the world's religions. Albert Schweitzer stated: "By having a reverence for life, we enter into a spiritual relation with the world... we become good, deep and alive." Because these connections are seen as sacred, they are inviolable. Having reverence for life substantively alters our perception of, and relationship with, the world. It becomes a sacred vision.

Rather than feeling disconnected and alienated in a mass society, I develop compassion for my brothers and sisters. This compassion turns "its" into "thous." I ask: "Who is my neighbor?" This vision of communion engenders sacred obligations. If all people are due a certain standard of respect and reverence, then when that moral standard is violated, we feel outrage. And for social justice activists, that violation of moral standards and accompanying outrage compels us to take actions to repair and heal the world.

Any vision of a just society must be based on careful analysis of the widespread and unnecessary suffering in our current society. Through history, a story emerges of an evolving communal quest for greater justice. Generation after generation, the body politic has gradually become more just. People and populations who were previously silenced, marginalized, and treated as non-persons have been given a voice, have moved to the center, and have become enfranchised.

Community as the Ground of Transformation

A vision of a just society is not a solitary exercise but is best created through dialogue with others. The power of community is unlocked through social engagement. I am not alone in my social justice work.

As a critical sociologist, I have spent years studying what might be called "the mass psychology of misery." So many of our brothers and sisters are in so much pain that they are on the verge of losing it. Feelings of anxiety, emptiness, and sadness pervade our social landscape. My theology acknowledges this pervasive misery and analyzes it as a particularly modern phenomenon, largely caused by forms of sociality and mindsets brought on by industrial capitalism. Loneliness, isolation, and social fragmentation are central challenges in building spiritual communities in our era. As Forrest Church noted, "Togetherness is no longer a luxury but a necessity."

The baseline of spirituality is bringing people together to share their experiences and create and strengthen social bonds. Small groups with many opportunities to share and listen to others' stories are necessary. Relationships are the most effective way to overcome the mass psychology of misery. Through focused dialogues in small group encounters, people can share their life experiences and come to understand each other and our challenges. These dialogues are essential to creating the collective resources necessary to envision better worlds and to do the work needed to create those worlds. Social change is not a solitary activity. It is through collective action and social movement participation that effective social change happens.

Everyday Spiritual Practices

A wide array of spiritual practices can help create a vision of a just society. Prayer and meditation are transformative techniques of spiritual enlightenment that do much to help people and communities. Silence, mindfulness, contemplation, and discernment allow the mind to calm down and focus clearly on what is at hand. At times, we direct our thoughts to certain topics or concerns and metaphorically send them out to the world. When we clear our minds and attempt to just be with the breath, we focus on the embodied sensations of the moment. At other times, we attempt to open our minds and hearts and be receptive to the wisdom of the universe.

Prayer is a spiritual practice that creates a sacred space, provides hope for what we are doing, and connects us to the spirit of love. When praying, I attempt to:

1. Rejoice in the glorious wonder of the universe
2. Focus on what is in my heart
3. Remain humble
4. Speak the truth
5. Acknowledge the suffering of the world
6. Express gratitude for all I have
7. Recognize the change I have to make
8. Imagine a better world made through good works
9. Recommit myself to helping others
10. Above all, express love

Other spiritual practices contribute to social justice work: walks in nature and the communion found therein; service-work to help those less fortunate; writing and journaling to gain personal insight and create works of beauty; the use of song and dance as sacred activities.

The Importance of Contemplation

Contemplation is any practice designed to quiet the mind and cultivate a capacity for deep concentration and insight. Types of contemplative practice include prayer, meditation, mindful walking, yoga, vision quests, and council circles. Through contemplation, the individual brings aspects of themselves into focus and becomes more fully aware of the interconnectedness of life. Contemplation can be solitary or communal. The intention with which a practice is done is crucial. Contemplation connects us with an inner source of wisdom—a deep spiritual dimension. While contemplative practices are today employed as practical tools for stress reduction and concentration, in social justice work we emphasize their transformative potential.

The spiritual transformational potential of contemplation includes: deep, focused attention that dissolves our preconceptions so we can observe situations as they truly are; putting ourselves in another's shoes as a way to bear witness to others' suffering and pain; paying attention to what is in our heart; remaining open to outcomes and unattached; conceiving of loving action toward others and ourselves; and recommitting ourselves to nonviolence, reverence for life, solidarity, justice, democratic practice, and sustainability.

A Prophetic Voice for Social Justice

A prophet is one who speaks by divine inspiration, often critically evaluating existing society and putting forward a vision of a future society. This moral vision of "what isn't working" and "the way it should be" aids people in understanding their world and changing it in accord with spiritual principles and visions of social justice.

In about 750 BCE, the Old Testament prophet Amos indicted Israel for various forms of social injustice, including indifference, inequality, hypocrisy, and conspicuous consumption. Amos declared that God wants: "But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."

Experiences of the sacred are the source of a prophet's sense of mission, their passion for justice, and their courage to challenge the powers that be. As Marcus Borg stated: "Social justice is concerned with the structures of society and their results. Because it is result-oriented, it discerns whether the structures of society—in other words, society as a whole—are just in their effects. Do they produce a large impoverished class or result in a more equitable distribution of resources? Do they benefit some at the expense of many or serve all equally? Do they produce conflict or peace? Do they destroy or nourish a future?"

Just as the Roman authorities suspected, Jesus of Nazareth was a dangerous subversive, committed to nonviolence and radically opposed to the established order. Drawing upon the Jewish prophetic tradition, Jesus preached that religious observance without social justice was blasphemous mockery. He repeatedly reminded the powerful that societies are judged by how they treat the poor and defenseless. Jesus affirmed the lives of the marginalized, displaced, and silenced: "You are the light of the world!" he proclaimed. His lifestyle was no less radical than his words. An itinerant sage, he had no job, no home, and no family. He begged for his food. He urged people to reject the world's values and realize the "kingdom of God."

Categories and Strategies of Social Justice Action

A strategic framework for advancing social justice focuses on structural oppression and systemic inequality rather than personal prejudice; on impacts rather than intentions (unequal impacts and outcomes are evidence that oppression exists); on solutions that emphasize inclusion and equity rather than mere diversity; and on empowering stakeholders while targeting institutional powerholders.

After deep soul-searching and community dialogue, a vision of a just society emerges—one enshrining the values of fairness, well-being, self-actualization, and peace relevant to the local community. The range of social justice work is vast. As an ally with oppressed groups fighting interpersonal oppression, one can: interrupt offensive jokes, speak up for voices not present, and acknowledge one's privilege. Social justice work includes how I treat people with dignity and respect, and how I urge others to do the same.

Six broad categories of social justice work include:

1. Advocacy: The strategy most often employed in the pursuit of social justice, defined as the pursuit of influencing outcomes including policies—for example, visiting or writing elected officials or giving testimony at public hearings
2. Service: Seeking to meet the needs of those who suffer, typically without solving the underlying problem
3. Education: A wide array of strategies seeking to inform the public about social injustice, including community forums, letters, websites, and op-eds
4. Witnessing: Making public by word or deed the convictions of an individual or organization regarding an issue—demonstrations, vigils, marches, letter-writing, resolutions, press releases, petition campaigns
5. Community organizing: All efforts seeking to inspire the public to want to change the situation in which social injustice exists
6. Stakeholder analysis: Careful examination of the targets of social injustice, involving dialogue with those who suffer, listening with an open mind to their concerns, learning about their efforts to alter the situation, and supporting their goals

Bearing Witness to Social Injustice

To bear witness to social injustice is to not turn away from the ugly and upsetting realities of our world. It is to feel uncomfortable in the presence of hatred, oppression, and discrimination. It is to proclaim: "I will NOT forget the human suffering I have observed." It is to re-dedicate oneself to the pursuit of human liberation through the use of spiritual principles. It is to make public these shameful acts.

When bearing witness to social injustice is accompanied by a critical analysis of root causes—especially structural violence—it can inform and strengthen the prophetic voices so vital to social justice movements by grounding critiques of the status quo in empirical observation. After bearing witness, observers need to pause and reflect upon what they saw, contrast that with "the way things should be," and consider the necessary steps to reach the promised land.

Conclusion: Doing the Right Thing

Spirituality gives meaning to my life. By seeing everyday life as imbued with sacredness, I usually stay positive, connect with other people in community, and attempt to do the right thing.

We seem to live in an age of extremes. As Charles Dickens proclaimed, "It is the best of times; it is the worst of times." Genocide, mass starvation, and violence exist alongside the heights of human creativity and scientific progress. Given this situation, I ask myself: "How shall we worship?" and "What or who is my God?"—and often find myself alone among the "True Believers." At times the loneliness is overwhelming.

But I refuse to be overcome by despair and know that through my life I can make a difference. I can change the world. You can change the world. We all can change the world. And change the world we must!

There are so many ills that plague our planet, so many sorrows that stain our existence. We must continue to struggle against injustice and the systems of domination that surround us. For me, these acts of resistance and creative intervention against injustice are the most sacred of activities.

When I refuse to just go along with the "normal" course of the world, when I stop and contemplate the "right" thing to do, when I put my ideals into action, when I consider the consequences of my lifestyle and habits, I become a holy warrior in the struggle for human liberation.

Think about it. Another world is possible. We can create societies in which equality, justice, and peace abound, in which all humans are accorded the dignity they deserve.

One of the biggest challenges we face is our sense of what is possible. We are locked into frameworks of thinkable possibilities that limit our engagement with the world. We think "this is just the way things are," or "I am just one person," or "everyone does it anyway." We go along with tradition and accepted definitions of reality. We sometimes unknowingly create the very circumstances that hold us down.

To become aware of the power of human action and our ability to create new worlds is a sacred shift in consciousness. By identifying with the silenced, displaced, and downtrodden, I say: "We are all equal and deserve dignity, respect, and love." I decide to stop my participation in the normal, accepted ways of being in the world. I choose to break the cycle of acquiescence. I see how my simple habits of life contribute to systems of hierarchy and hatred. This is the stuff from which revolutions are made!

No longer operating on automatic, we choose the path to liberation. We know that our simple decision to act differently will make a difference. If many of us simultaneously change our ways of being in the world, the pathway to the future becomes filled with liberated possibilities.

When we live in a way that serves the well-being of the whole and become awake to our complicity with injustice and our potential for greatness, we take part in a celebration of cosmic evolution and the deepest purposes of our existence. When we act consciously, we choose creativity over sameness, freedom over subjugation, compassion over alienation, and intention over compliance.

So, do the right thing. Examine the mundane moments of your life—your habits of talking, consuming, driving—the stuff of everyday being in the world, to see the unintended consequences of your actions. Assume that some of your ways of being contribute to the ills of the world, including injustice, domination, and inhumane treatment. Imagine a world without hierarchy and hatred, without domination and oppression—created by you!

Reflect upon your actions. Know that you can make a difference. Do the right thing.

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