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Good News About InjusticeGOOD NEWS ABOUT INJUSTICE If you could give one gift to the next generation young believers, what would it be? Gary Haugen asks this question at the beginning of his book, Good news about injustice, and comes up with a simple answer: courage! He argues that all the other Christian virtues are useless if we do not have the courage to practise them in a hostile world. The rest of his book is a powerful demonstration of both the extent of injustice in the world and the ways in which courageous believers can make a difference. The real value of this book is that it intertwines both practical and biblical insights. The author has seen injustice in its worst forms. As a lawyer, he was involved in the investigation of police brutality in America, before becoming director of the United Nations genocide investigation in Rwanda. He is currently president of the International Justice Mission in the USA, which helps Christians fight injustice. The book contains harrowing accounts of brutality, murder and abuse of power. But the author also dwells at length on God's hatred of injustice. The book bristles with biblical reflection so that we have the sense that we are not plumbing the depths of human depravity alone, but in fellowship with the God who hates violence and loves justice (Psalm 11.5,7). This perspective gives the book a defiant optimism. Haugen is convinced that God defends the fatherless and the oppressed (Psalm 10.18) and it contains numerous examples of how he uses ordinary Christians as his instruments. John Stott, in his foreword, advises us not to read the book unless we are willing to be 'shocked, challenged, persuaded and transformed'. I challenge you to read it! Peter Comont,
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