Though the term “Social Capital” was new to me, the concept that certain people in the United States don’t inherit the same starting position as others is fairly common, that this inherent inequality often has a racial element is also widespread knowledge—or at least it has been throughout my life and education—and seemingly throughout all nations and all human history, minority groups have, to use a colloquialism, had it rough. “Social capital” seems to be only a specific instance of what my mother always told me, “Life is unfair.”
Yet how should we let the knowledge of “Social Capital” influence our judgement within the Church? Are we to show partiality to someone because of his skin color? Whatever a man looks like, black, white, or polka dotted, whether king or slave, shouldn’t we treat him the same?
For further thought, inequality has many factors besides race. If we focus on one cause of this inequality, say racism or poverty or sex, do we not thereby blind ourselves to all the others? How can we measure a man when we cannot see his heart? Just because we see a man’s skin, we do not, ipso facto, know how much he has suffered and what he is due.
I think Moses was right when he wrote:
. . . nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.
And I stand with James:
. . . have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Tale Told 