Justice vs Charity
Perhaps the best way to differentiate two often-confused terms ‘“ charity and justice ‘“ is to re-tell the parable revolving around these two concepts: There was a village holding a social gathering one summer, when a person noticed a baby struggling and crying in the river. As someone rushed to save the baby, more babies were added, so the people tried saving the children. As others became busy with their rescue efforts, two people went upstream to stop whoever is throwing the babies into the river.
This may seem to be an improbable tale, but the difference between the concepts of justice and charity are clearly outlined. Charity occurred when the townspeople put their efforts together to rescue the babies, while justice was seeked by the two individuals who went upstream to stop whoever was throwing the babies downstream.
As such, justice refers more to the concept of moral rightness, while charity refers more to the giving of help to those who are in need. Charity deals with the immediate need, while justice leans more towards addressing the root cause of the problem.
In a federal government, for example, charity is shown when a non-governmental organization puts together a soup kitchen to feed the homeless, or put up shelters for those who are in need. On the other hand, justice veers more towards a non-governmental organization, who will call and write to the elected officials, and demand laws that will lead to systemic change ‘“ so that problems like hunger and poverty will be resolved on a bigger scale.
Although both charity and justice aims to fulfil a need, the approach is different. Charity addresses the immediate need, while justice digs a bit deeper into the root cause of the problem.
Summary:
1. Charity is the giving of help to those who are in need, while justice is the system which oversees that the concept of moral rightness is applied to a situation when someone has become the aggrieved party.
2. Charity addresses an immediate need, while justice gets to the root of the problem.
3. Charity offers a direct service to those in need, while justice focuses more on social change.
4. Charity can be practiced by individuals, governmental and non-profit organizations, while justice is served by the federal courts.