Christian leaders say justice must be at heart of global economy

Asserting that the economies of the United States and other countries supporting the global free trade structure are crumbling, a group of Christian leaders have said it is time to put economic justice and ecological sustainability at the heart of faith.

“We need to discern and respond to how the global economy affects our faith, as 80 percent of the global population is excluded from the fruits of the capitalist economy,” said Park Seong-Won, a theology professor at Young Nam Theological University in Kyeong San, South Korea.

The Rev. Everett Mendoza, a theology professor at the Siliman University in the Philippines, said justice needed to be seen as at the heart of Christian faith, “when three billion people worldwide are forced to survive on less than two U.S. dollars a day as a result of the globalised capitalist system.”

Mendoza and Seong-Won were among more than 40 participants from 24 countries meeting here between 12 and 16 December for the launching of a global ecumenical movement for “economic and ecological justice” called Oikotree.

The term Oikotree is derived partly from the book of Revelation in the Bible’s New Testament and it refers to a tree of life whose leaves are “for the healing of the nations”.

Hosted by the Manila-based ecumenical group Peace for Life, the meeting is sponsored by three global church organizations—the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the World Council of Churches, and the Council for World Mission.

Mendoza stressed the need for Christians to “join the search for economic alternatives that guarantee food and justice for everybody, look after the health and sustainability of planet earth, and are based on the spirit of generosity and caring”.

The Rev. Philip Woods of the Council for World Mission said he expects that that during the five-day conference, participants will develop actions to spur a global grassroots movement that “puts justice at the heart of spirituality and doing mission”.

Carmencita Karagdag of the Peace for Life group said the Philippines is “a fitting venue to launch the Oikotree movement because of the country’s history of struggle against injustice,” first, against Spanish conquest, and then U.S. colonisation.

Reflecting on the story of Daniel in the Bible’s Old Testament during an opening service, Mendoza predicted the eventual demise of what he called greed-driven capitalism, which he likened to, “King Belshazzar and his nobles and wives and concubines who used the sacred goblets and vessels of the Jerusalem temple for their drinking sprees and debaucheries”.

Source:

http://warc.jalb.de/warcajsp/side.jsp?news_id=1729&part_id=0&navi=6

The event was also reported in:

DisciplesWorld – Justice groups eye Internet as tool in global alternatives’ quest (Maurice Malanes, Ecumenical News International, 19 Dec 2008)
The Presbyterian Outlook – “Simplicity theology” for sustainable future urged at Manila forum (Maurice Malanes, Ecumenical News International, 6 Jan 2009)

External link:

OIKOTREE Web site