Christians asked to stand up for economic and ecological justice
-27/02/05
On the eve of a major new report on the ethics of affluence, church representatives at the Swanwick assembly of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland were this week given the opportunity to sign up for economic and environmental justice.
At a seminar organised jointly by the United Reformed Church, the Church of Scotland, the Union of Welsh Independents, the ecumenical Churchesí Commission on Mission and the think tank Ekklesia, the Accra Confession on Covenanting for Justice in the Economy and the Earth was introduced as a feasible step forward towards theologically grounded right-relationships.
The Confession was first adopted at the General Council of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches last year. It is the culmination of study, prayer and reflection among churches in the Reformed tradition who feel that global neo-liberal economics falsifies the core message of equality in the Gospel and continues to push the poor to the margins of existence.
Elizabeth Nash of the URC argued forcefully that biblical ideas for a just economy were being thwarted by an ideology that put the needs of capital and big corporations above those of vulnerable communities and a vulnerable planet.
The Accra Confession is based upon the same formula (ìwe believeÖ therefore we are againstî) as the Barmen Declaration adopted by the Confessing Church in Germany during the Nazi era. It is also similar to the ecumenical Kairos Document that declared apartheid a sin in South Africa during the 1980s.
The Confession states: ì We live in a scandalous world that denies Godís call to life for all. The annual income of the richest one per cent is equal to that of the poorest 57 per cent, and 24,000 people die each day from poverty and malnutrition.î
It goes on: ìThe policy of unlimited growth among industrialized countries and the drive for profit of transnational corporations have plundered the earth and severely damaged the environment. In 1989, one species disappeared each day, and by 2000 it was one every hour.î
The document then develops a theological rationale for a differently structured global economy, echoing the call of anti-corporate campaigners to see social and environmental factors joining purely fiscal ones on the ëbottom lineí of the worldís balance sheet.
Those attending the CTBI assembly seminar were supportive of the moral and biblical perspective of the Accra Confession, but had some different views about how to implement it.
Such candid discussions are also expected in relation to the British and Irish churchesí Prosperity With A Purpose report.
One practical suggestion was that local churches might conduct an audit of their own economic participation, impact and policy ñ looking at where people work, how they intervene in economic processes, work for debt alleviation and fair trade, and resource sharing among Christians.