GM WATCH daily
http://www.gmwatch.org
Feb. 23, 2006
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This largely overlooked document, released in the summer of last year,
shows
how the World Council of Churches - an international fellowship of Christian
churches from more than 120 countries in all continents from virtually
all
Christian traditions - has come out strongly against GM.
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World Council of Churches & GE
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2006 05:42:37 -1000
From: GMO-FREE MAUI <gmofreemaui at hawaii.rr.com>
To: gefreehi <gefreehi at yahoogroups.com>
Greetings, Friends in this effort,
I have found the World Council of Churches' 28 page 'discussion document'
'Caring for Life: Genetics, Agriculture, and Human Life' most helpful,
both
for its depth and conclusions...
Below are this paper's conclusions which are calls to action and include
such statements as:
"To build partnerships with civil society, peoples movements, small
scale
farmer groups and Indigenous Peoples in opposing the science, philosophy
and
practice of genetic engineering in agriculture..."
* The way forward.*
In the light of our work on genetic engineering agriculture we therefore
call upon the WCC, member Churches, individual Christians and people of
good
will to embark on the following six forms of action
1. To build partnerships with civil society, people's movements, small
scale
farmer groups and Indigenous Peoples in opposing the science, philosophy
and
practice of genetic engineering in agriculture
2. To challenge Christians in the employ of those promoting genetic
engineering to reflect upon the implications of their work in the light
of
the Gospel's concern for truth and justice, and to consider the possibility
of being whistle-blowers and conscientious objectors
3. To encourage Christian theological reflection to shift from issues
of
food security to issues of food sovereignty so that our concerns for
justice, freedom and participation are not compromised.
4. To encourage Christians involved in medical research to continue to
investigate the impact of genetic engineering in agriculture upon human
health, as called for by the European Commission.
5. To stand in solidarity with those working in local communities to
promote
healthy food and good nutrition amongst the deprived, especially in a
time
of HIV/AIDS.
6. To recognize in our work and reflection the way in which access to
food
stands on the interface between ecology and economy in the struggle for
life
against commodification and control
7. To engage biblically and theologically in reflection on food, faith
and
freedom, and especially to consider the possibility that the agape meal
at
the heart of Christian worship - the Lord's Supper or Eucharist - could
be
envisaged as a sacrament of resistance against those who seek to control
food. In doing these things, we stand in continuity with the AGAPE document,
and particularly section 3.3., 'from food security to food sovereignty':
'We believe that God's economy of solidarity and justice for the household
of creation includes the promise that the people of the world have the
right
to produce their own food and control the resources belonging to their
livelihoods, including biodiversity. It is therefore the right and
responsibility of governments to support the livelihoods of small farmers
in
the South and in the North. It is their right to refuse the demands of
agribusinesses that seek to control every aspect of the cycle of life.
Such
an approach requires respect for indigenous spiritual relationships to
land
and the bounties of mother earth.12
12 World Council of Churches, JPC Team, Alternative Globalization Addressing
Peoples and Earth, Geneva 2005, p 22
The full document can be seen at:
www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/jpc/geneticengineering.pdf
A short discussion of biotechnology on the World Council of Churches
website
is at:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/jpc/ecearth-biotech.html