Justice vs. Charity

According to Hilfiker, justice involves the fairness that people deserve to have. Justice is a result of social structures that guarantee people's moral rights. Justice is a more permanent objective. Meanwhile, according to Hilfiker, charity is simply generosity given freely by a person, at any time being in danger of being withdrawn. Charity helps to ease hardship until a social structure is created for that specific problem area. Charity provides a breathing interim until justice is achieved; however, charity can not reach all those that need help or assistance. Personally, I agree with his statement. In my opinion, many people view charity as the "quick fix" way of righting wrongs. For example, imagine soup kitchens and homeless shelters in Philadelphia not existing. The thousands of homeless people once helped by these charitable institutions would be out on the streets with no place to go. Since the problem would be directly in their faces, the government and higher officials would probably have to immediately take action in trying to help these people; however, since this is not the case in present day, these people have not taken the actions needed to ensure moral rights for those in need. I have seen countless homeless people in Philadelphia alone. The $5 one might give them at that moment in time does not suffice in supporting them in the long run. If justice was obtained more quickly, the charity step could technically be bypassed altogether. Although charity is a benevolent gesture, it does not fix any problems absolutely. Those providing charity can back out at any time, while justice is a more absolute rule or law. Justice finds the solutions to present problems in society through laws and rights. Charity nurtures justice. As a Catholic, I believe we must participate in charitable works, but we must not let that blind us of the primary goal of bringing justice to everyone. In the justice vs. charity issue, an appropriate sense of outrage is necessary. An "appropriate sense of outrage" is a justified feeling of outrage and shock when talking about the unjustified conditions of certain individuals in our society. A present appropriate sense of outrage puts a fire under the system, making it faster to obtain justice and also making us realize that we must actively be involved in bringing about said justice.