US politicians call on faith groups to end world hunger
-26/10/05
People of faith can help end world hunger if they combine their efforts, according to a new book by a bipartisan team of veteran US politicians and a leading Methodist theologian.
Former senators Robert Dole (Republican, Kansas) and George McGovern (Democrat, South Dakota) are among the contributors to Ending Hunger Now: A Challenge to Persons of Faith, published by Fortress Press, an agency of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The editor and major writer is the Rev Donald E. Messer, a United Methodist theologian on the faculty of Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado. McGovern is a member of the United Methodist Church. Dole is Presbyterian.
ìThe problem of world hunger is solvable,î said McGovern at a Washington press conference launching the book. ìWe are calling people of faith to be part of the solution.î The former lawmaker and Democratic candidate for president in 1968 is an ambassador for the World Food Program of the United Nations.
Says Messer: ìThis issue cuts through politics and doctrines. Christians, Muslims and Jews all share the same theological imperative for addressing the problem of hunger.î
ìI am confident that widespread hunger is one of the contributing factors that leads to discontent and creates an environment that is conducive to terrorism,î added Dole at the National Press Club event. He was the Republican Party presidential candidate in 1996.
ìFaith communities can do much more than provide food charity,î said the Rev R. Randy Day, chief executive of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, at the event. ìThey can also encourage international agencies, national governments, corporations and civil societies to understand that food is abundant – if economic and social systems can be revamped to allow people access to the supply and to its production.î
McGovern and Dole have long shared a commitment to combating hunger. They co-authored legislation in the United States leading to programmes such as food stamps; food assistance to women, children, and infants; and the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition plan.
The relationship between hunger and AIDS is also of critical concern to all three authors. In sub-Saharan Africa, drugs alone cannot turn back the disease. The strong drugs must be taken with food to produce the desired result, so doctors are beginning to prescribe food alongside the drugs.
Former President Bill Clinton provides an introduction to Ending Hunger Now. The book has been strongly endorsed by Bread For the World, the food and anti-poverty organization that represents many religious organizations on Capitol Hill in Washington.
[With acknowledgements to Wendy Whiteside of UMC]
US politicians call on faith groups to end world hunger
-26/10/05
People of faith can help end world hunger if they combine their efforts, according to a new book by a bipartisan team of veteran US politicians and a leading Methodist theologian.
Former senators Robert Dole (Republican, Kansas) and George McGovern (Democrat, South Dakota) are among the contributors to Ending Hunger Now: A Challenge to Persons of Faith, published by Fortress Press, an agency of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The editor and major writer is the Rev Donald E. Messer, a United Methodist theologian on the faculty of Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado. McGovern is a member of the United Methodist Church. Dole is Presbyterian.
‘The problem of world hunger is solvable,’ said McGovern at a Washington press conference launching the book. ‘We are calling people of faith to be part of the solution.’ The former lawmaker and Democratic candidate for president in 1968 is an ambassador for the World Food Program of the United Nations.
Says Messer: ‘This issue cuts through politics and doctrines. Christians, Muslims and Jews all share the same theological imperative for addressing the problem of hunger.’
‘I am confident that widespread hunger is one of the contributing factors that leads to discontent and creates an environment that is conducive to terrorism,’ added Dole at the National Press Club event. He was the Republican Party presidential candidate in 1996.
‘Faith communities can do much more than provide food charity,’ said the Rev R. Randy Day, chief executive of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, at the event. ‘They can also encourage international agencies, national governments, corporations and civil societies to understand that food is abundant – if economic and social systems can be revamped to allow people access to the supply and to its production.’
McGovern and Dole have long shared a commitment to combating hunger. They co-authored legislation in the United States leading to programmes such as food stamps; food assistance to women, children, and infants; and the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition plan.
The relationship between hunger and AIDS is also of critical concern to all three authors. In sub-Saharan Africa, drugs alone cannot turn back the disease. The strong drugs must be taken with food to produce the desired result, so doctors are beginning to prescribe food alongside the drugs.
Former President Bill Clinton provides an introduction to Ending Hunger Now. The book has been strongly endorsed by Bread For the World, the food and anti-poverty organization that represents many religious organizations on Capitol Hill in Washington.
[With acknowledgements to Wendy Whiteside of UMC]