Justice, Fairness, and a 19-Foot Tom: A Conversation at Recess

This week at our afterschool club, Recess, we had one of those big, deep conversations that make youth work so exciting. The topic we were focused on for the session was ‘Justice and fairness.’ We explored huge questions, debated different perspectives, and even ran a mock court to see how people’s views played out in practice. It was fun, engaging, and we could hear them still talking about it when they left!

What became clear very quickly was just how differently we all think about justice. Some leaned towards a version of absolute fairness—everyone gets exactly the same. Others argued for situational justice—different circumstances require different responses. The discussion was passionate, thought-provoking, and, at times, hilariously unpredictable.

As we wrapped up, I reflected with them on the problem of suffering and its relationship to belief in God. One of the classic objections to God’s existence is the presence of injustice in the world. I pointed out that a challenge with this argument is that if even we, in this room, struggle to agree on what justice even is in the first place, then how could we decide God and justice are incompatible? A couple of young people engaged with this idea, asking really thoughtful questions about why they personally reject the idea of God due to suffering and unfairness in the world.

I carefully suggested that sometimes we decide what kind of God we want before deciding whether or not He exists. I gave a silly example: Imagine you’ve been told about a guy named Tom. But you decide before meeting him that Tom is 19 feet tall, has three eyes, and pink hair. Well, because no one like that exists—that mean’s Tom himself can’t possibly exist, so you couldn’t ever possibly meet a Tom. In the same way, rejecting God because He doesn’t match our personal preferences might not be the best approach.

It was amazing to see the students pause and really take this in. You could almost see their grip on unbelief loosening just a little, their minds opening to fresh possibilities.

We love helping young people take small, meaningful steps in their thinking—never pushing, never forcing, just creating space for discovery. Because we believe that’s the most respectful and lasting way for them to encounter God for themselves.

Photo by Ivan Aleksic on Unsplash