There is a natural division in the 10 commandments, between commandments 4 and 5. The first four are spiritual in nature and the latter six give moral directions. Similarly, when Jesus affirms the two most important commands (1. to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and 2. to love your neighbor as yourself, Mt 22:36-40), you can find the same division-- four concern our relationship with God, and six our relationship with each other.
Social justice can be emphasized in the 10 commandments (The 10 C's from here on out), despite its reputation as a code that is whipped out in order to condemn. Not that it does not condemn-- it does a pretty good job, especially in light of the Sermon on the Mount (Jesus turns "Thou shall not murder" into "anyone who is angry with his brother is a murderer.") To think about the 10 C's through the social justice prism takes 2 things. First, time and creativity. Second, a suspension of disbelief/acceptance of certain beliefs about the nature of God. I'm going to take a stab at social justice-lizing the 10 C's, one-by-one.
(Ex 20 you can find each in full)
1. You shall have no other Gods before me. All of these other blog posts point to a God that is passionate about equality, justice, generosity, caring for the poor, etc... 'love' and 'good' are defined by the actions of the Lord. Exalting other gods could only water down the message of social justice.
2. Do not make idols. One of the most popular applications I hear on the message of idolatry today is that of money. "You cannot serve both God and money" Jesus says (Mt 6:24) and "the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil" (1 Tim 6:10). Serving God includes working towards social justice; you cannot serve God and money; therefore, if you serve money you cannot work towards social justice. Folks, I believe we have a logical argument sighting.
3. You shall not use God's name in vain. I assume that this extends beyond the literal curse word. Throughout history, oppressors have justified themselves by claiming the blessing of God in their acts. For example, African colonists who believed in the "Curse of Ham," that God willed that they subject black-skinned humans, the descendants of Ham. Today: Christians that oppose interracial marriage for theological reasons (I'll at least listen to practical reasons), other religions that institutionalize inequalities (I won't name names, but think of the position of women).
4. Remember the Sabbath. See the posts on Sabbath and the Year of Jubilee.
Here is the natural divide. I will address the last six commands in part B.
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