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Twelve Principles for a Just Society

By Ronald J. Sider

1. Made in the image of God, every person enjoys an inalienable dignity and worth that society must respect.

2. Persons are not just complex socioeconomic, materialistic machines; they are also spiritual beings enjoying God-given rights and responsibilities. Each person is a body-soul unity made for relationship with God, neighbor, and earth.

3. Because the TrinitarianGod created persons for mutual interdependence in community, society must be organized in ways that nurture the common good. Since persons reach their potential only in a multilayered community of diverse institutions (family, church, school, media, business, government), society must promote policies (consistent with religious freedom for all) that strengthen all institutions to play their full proper role.

4. Every policy, both public and private, must be measured by its impact on the poor and marginalized because biblical faith teaches that one of the central criterion by which God judges societies is how they treat the least advantaged.

5. Both because God wants all persons to be dignified participants in their communities and because centralized power is always dangerous, we must strengthen the economic and political power of the poor.

6. Renewing wholesome, two-parent families must be a central goal for both government and civil society.

7. Every person and family should have the opportunity to acquire and use (without discrimination based on religion, race, or gender) the productive resources that, if used responsibly, will enable that person or family to earn a decent living and be a dignified participating member of the community.

8. Everyone able to work has an obligation to do so, and society, where possible, has the responsibility to make work opportunities available to all. Everyone who works responsibly should receive a living income.

9. Society should care — in a generous, compassionate way that strengthens dignity and respect — for those who cannot care for themselves.

10. Quality education must be available to all, regardless of family income.

11. Quality health care consistent with society’s present knowledge and resources must be available to all, regardless of family income.

12. Every community must enjoy public safety. Communities should be places where people feel physically secure, violence is rare, and the police and courts function without bias for or against anyone.

—Ronald J. Sider, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania