INJUSTICE: Isn't religion the enemy?

Title: INJUSTICE: Isnt religion the enemy of minorities, the weak & the poor? (a historical & biblical perspective on justice) Summary: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. James 1:27 - 2:1 Through March well seek to address - biblically, practically, and personally - some of the most common & powerful arguments against Christianity. Todays challenge could be posed like this: Isnt religion (including Christianity) the enemy of minorities, the weak & the poor? Doesnt the Christian church have a long history of engaging in economic, cultural & racial oppression - especially towards the weak & poor? In this sermon well acknowledge that injustice is everywhere & always has been. And that while horrific, indefensible injustice has been done by the christian church - it is one of a long list of oppressors - including atheists and groups from nearly all other religious worldviews. However - Christianity has a unique resource for rightly addressing the issue of Justice & Mercy - Jesus. From this passage in James - well see that, far from rejecting the poor & oppressed, Jesus actually chooses them. And therefore - anyone who follows & believes in Jesus - should do the same. In addition well see the reality of Justice in Jesus name - a call to action for the Christian community. Lastly well apply this to ourselves - called to serve as Jesus did & does. The solution to the problem of injustice in the world is not less Christianity - but a truer - deeper - more humble faith - rooted & empowered by Jesus. Well see at the cross and in the life of Jesus the perfect picture of grace, truth, justice & peace. And how Gospel-centred Christianity can indeed produce the peace-loving, city-serving, compassion-motivated, & radically humble agents of reconciliation our world so desperately longs for. ---------