Role of SCCs in Eradication of Social Evils

Social Evils is an umbrella term for a variety of problems that occur in the society at
large. These problems become evils over the course of time as the society comes to accept
these as part of the social system and start to follow them blindly without evaluating their
merits. The land of India is a hotbed of social evils where they continue to fester despite the
attempts to weed them out. Some evils have been removed yet others remain firmly in place.
Social evils are exploitation of fellow human beings in various capacities. Some of these
social evils are discrimination, exploitation etc. Social evil as an action against the fellow
human being is an action against the law of God.
The Sacred Scripture shows us that God does not allow any person to be exploited. He
does not tolerate human traditions that turn him inhuman. Small Christian Communities are
the visible signs of the presence of God in the world among people. In keeping the Scripture
as their foundation, they explicitly as well as implicitly agree to follow all that the Bible
shows to be the truth. Jesus during his earthly sojourn rejected and condemned all forms of
social evils that existed during his period. Parts of these can be found in his condemnation of
the Pharisees and Sadducees of the plethora of laws and practices that they forced upon the
ordinary people. The SCCs exist at the very basic levels. It exists in the very midst of the
society, where the social evils are clearly visible, because the members themselves are on the
perpetrating and receiving ends of these evils. At this level it is easy to observe and verify the
observations tied to evils.
In talking about social evils from the Christian viewpoint we do not exclude others.
For God all are equally important. As true Christians, the action plans we undertake always
have to include everyone who live near us. We show solidarity to the whole universe which is
the creation of God. God creates all human beings as equal and as such exploitation of one by
another is an attempt to gain superiority over the other.
SCCs attempt to bring about transformation through evangelization, first amidst
themselves and through the changes in their lives influence others to transform into better and
better human beings. SCCs reflect on the Word of God in their life-situations and after
sharing and prayer develop various practical strategies on how to bring about a change for the
betterment of the people and how to execute it.
1

Strategies built and executed from other levels turn out to be always ineffective and in
many situations very detrimental. This happens because the people who build the strategies at
a level higher than that for which they are working have no touch with the ground realities
that are actually happening. In this regards, the SCC can play a very major role, because since
the members of the SCC belong to the very strata and are familiar with all or at least most of
the aspects of the social system. The SCCs can compare the life situations in their society
with the law of Christ and identify the problems that exist and prioritize those which need
immediate attention to those which can wait for a longer period of time. The members of the
SCC then formulate plans based on their identification of the problems. The plans are put into
practice collectively by the members in collaboration with each other. The members then
evaluate the results of the implementation of the previous suggestions. The members together
then change what needs to be changed in the implementation methodology or bring in new
and better suggestions based on the evaluation of the situation. The members of the SCC can
also play a major role by their way of life. By boycotting the evils that are practiced in the
society the SCC members can bring about a change in the conscience of the people and raise
doubts about the necessity of the practices to continue.