A Christian Perspective on Rawls' "Theory of Justice"

Something about Rawls' "Theory of Justice" has been really bothering me since the time it was originally presented in class last week and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Essentially, it is supposedly the "fair" and "just" (i.e. moral) thing to do to design a government or future laws based on the original position and behind a veil of ignorance. It is a very clever proposition. But there is one problem: The persons making the laws or government would have to either all agree to voluntarily look through that same veil of ignorance, or they would have to be forced to do so. The latter is more likely; thus, from the outset, Rawls' theory negates free will. Even if everyone making the laws voluntarily agreed to look from behind a veil of ignorance, it would still undermine the free will of the members of society since they would be forced to adhere to the Rawls version of morality. It is a virtuous thing to feed the hungry and nurse the sick, but when we are forced to "be just and fair", the virtue is removed.

Another problem I see with it is that since I believe in God, Rawls' theory, if it were put into practice seeks to set up the Government as the way "God should have done it in the first place." In essence, the Government becomes a replacement for God.