Cosmic Justice and Political Idolatry
Abdul Majeed
PLCY 802
Professor: Dr. Bolek Kabala
May 20, 2021
In our quest for a perfect society, people turn to religion, politics, and its ideologies in
hopes of bringing justice to the people. The reliance on political ideologies as the complete map
to solving all societal issues is dangerous and arrogant (Fischer 2021). Throughout the years,
every ideology presents its own challenges. Furthermore, David Koyzis compares ideologies
with the Biblical idea of idolatry mainly because these ideologies essentially focus on an aspect
of God’s creation, and “raising it above that creation, and making the latter revolve around and
serve it” (Koyzis 2019, 3). For clarity, as humans we turn to these beliefs as the solution to all
our problems and giving it more power and respect than it deserves.
Sowell asserts that, the difference between seeking cosmic justice and traditional justice
depends on “the extent to which costs are weighed”. He continues further that; traditional justice
follows a laid down set of processes whilst cosmic justice seeks to remove the disadvantages for
a select group of people (Sowell 1999). The idea of cosmic justice fails to support its underlining
principle of providing social justice but gradually finds itself more in favor of ignoring a greater
portion of society through no fault of their own but that of people in power trying to fix society
according to their standards. According to Sowell (1999), in the search for cosmic justice for a
select group of the society, which ignores the remaining sections of society leads to “anti–social
justice, since what consistently gets ignored or dismissed are precisely the costs to society”
(Sowell 1999, 10). At times, even when government agencies or the state attempt to ensure
cosmic justice with good intentions for example redistributing resources, they sometimes lead
into rent seeking thus resources and opportunities make their way to communities with political
pull (Whaples 2019). Similarly, Koyzis (2019) asserts that, “the followers of ideologies often
wish to impose their own simplistic conception of a monolithic social order on the complexities
of a real society” (Koyzis 2019, 4).
As Christians we learn in Galatians 3:28 that, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (ESV).
Our faith teaches us to love one another and treat everyone with the love and respect we would
want for ourselves. The goal of cosmic justice and political ideologies negate this guiding rule of
our faith. In addition, both requires societies to rely on their fellow man and their governments
instead of turning to the Lord in times of need. Modern politics has sought to negate the
influence of religion in its parameters, something we believers view as the cause of our struggles.
Dr. Fischer asserts the importance of religion in politics even though the Bible does not “favor a
fusion of church and state”. He states, that in the states desire to “uphold a particular ideology, it
will infringe upon the conscience or freedom of conscience of the people to make that ideology
fit” (Fischer 2021).
Should society rely on the government and the diverse ideologies present in our world
today for justice? Can justice be attained without organized human law or governmental
standards? It is fair to assume that in the early days of civilization, men and women lived rather
peaceful lives and had several coping mechanisms of dealing with conflicts which were based on
the values, morals, culture and or faith of the people of the community. Afterall, the most basic
value of society is highlighted in how it settles disputes that arise hence ensuring justice for all
(Auerbach 1984). It is important to have a formalized government in a society, but if such
governments fail to ensure the protection of the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and property for
all its citizens, then it has failed in achieving one of the most fundamental Biblical principles of
Statesmanship. As Fischer puts it, “when a government acknowledges the inalienable rights of its
people, it is hard for it not to ensure their liberty” (Fischer 1998, 23).