Glenn Beck
"I beg you, look for the words 'social justice' or 'economic justice' on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words."
If Lancaster County churchgoers heeded that recent advice from conservative radio and TV broadcaster Glenn Beck, many would be fleeing their churches at this point.
A wide variety of churches here have "social justice" on their Web sites, including those of the Roman Catholic, Church of the Brethren, Mennonite, United Church of Christ and Unitarian denominations.
But local pastors of those churches say their flocks aren't going anywhere.
"Nobody's mentioned it," said the Rev. Chad Martin, pastor of Community Mennonite Church in Lancaster.
Members of Grace United Church of Christ in Manheim Township are having the opposite reaction.
"They are saying, 'Wait. No. Social justice is important to us,' " the Rev. Rachel Hackenburg said.
Beck's comments have angered Christians across the country. Even Beck's own denomination, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, distanced itself from the remarks by suggesting Beck's comments did not necessarily represent its position.
In his broadcast in early March, Beck said "social justice" has the same philosophy as the Nazis and communists and that the phrase is a code word for both.
"Am I advising people to leave their church? Yes! If I am going to Jeremiah Wright's church," he said, referring to President Barack Obama's former pastor in Chicago. "If you have a priest that is pushing social justice, go find another parish.
"Go alert your bishop and tell them, 'Excuse me, are you down with this whole social justice thing?' If it's my church, I'm alerting the church authorities: 'Excuse me, what's this social justice thing?' And if they say, 'Yeah, we're all in on this social justice thing,' I am in the wrong place."
Beck also called social justice "a perversion of the Gospel."
Ministers here strongly disagreed with him.
Social justice is an integral part of the work done by parishioners at St. Mary's Church, a Roman Catholic church in Lancaster, said the Rev. Leo Goodman. The church even has a social justice mission group, which does things such as minister to prisoners, work in the food bank, serve funeral lunches, offer meals to the needy and assist elderly people.
Jesus preached that people will be judged on whether they feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked and do other works, Goodman said.
"These all are acts of concern for our brothers and sisters," he said. "I think that's the foundation for understanding social justice."
The Rev. Jeff Rill, of Lancaster Church of the Brethren, said his church also puts a heavy emphasis on serving others, raising money for a food bank and for rebuilding efforts in Haiti.
Martin, of Community Mennonite, said his church supports, global efforts to promote social justice, such as Jubilee USA, which advocates canceling international debts of poor nations to allow them to use their funds to provide basic services to citizens.
"The church is called to advocate for changing systems in a way that contributes to the economic well-being of the most vulnerable people," Martin said.
Hackenburg, of Grace UCC, said Beck's comments flabbergasted her.
"I"m just sort of floored that someone would disconnect social justice from what a church should be about," she said, adding, "On the other hand, I get some humor out of it. I don't mind if Glenn Beck helps the church to focus in on what it needs to be doing."
She hopes his remarks do just that.
Beck has continued to discuss his remarks on his broadcasts. Stu Burguiere, executive producer at "The Glenn Beck Radio Program," also sought to clarify them.
"Like most Americans, Glenn strongly supports and believes in 'social justice' when it is defined as 'good Christian charity,'" he said. "Glenn strongly opposes when Rev. Wright and other leaders use 'social justice' as a euphemism for their real intention — redistribution of wealth."