Digest of Biblical Civil Law

My parents were both people of faith, but they expressed it in very different ways; and growing up I sometimes struggled to reconcile my father’s insistence on self-reliance and independence and my mother’s concern about social justice and compassion. I’ve always been taken by what happened before the miracle of the loaves and fishes [Matt. 14:13-21, Mark 6:31-44, Luke 9:10-17]. When the hour grows late and the crowd grows hungry, the disciples come to Jesus and suggest that he send away the people, to find food and to fend for themselves; but Jesus said no, you feed them. He was teaching about the responsibility we all share, to step up and serve the community, especially to help those with the greatest need and the fewest resources. It is a lesson that has motivated the social justice mission.
- Hillary Rodham Clinton (4/26/14 speech), “Wake Up The World! Transcript of Hillary Rodham Clinton's Address to Assembly 2014,” http://prod.umwomen.org:88/news/wake-up-the-world!