wfn.org | As Trade Talks Break Down, Religious Leaders Issue Statement

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

8-December-1999 
99408 
 
    As Trade Talks Break Down, Religious Leaders Issue Statement 
 
    Violence deplored but concerns for workers, environment affirmed 
 
    by Jerry L. Van Marter 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.-Religious leaders in the state of Washington issued a 
statement Dec. 3 deploring the violence that marred demonstrations in 
Seattle during the recent World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting but 
praising a vast coalition of non-violent groups that advocated for greater 
attention to environmental concerns, working conditions of laborers around 
the world and human rights. 
 
    The WTO talks collapsed under the weight of demands by President Bill 
Clinton, among others, that further trade agreements incorporate the 
concerns expressed by many of the protesters. 
 
    A large number of religious, environmental, labor and other 
humanitarian groups participated in forums for non-governmental agencies 
that went to Seattle as part of the broad-based talks on trade expansion 
under WTO auspices.  The Rev. William Somplatsky-Jarman, associate for 
environmental concerns and mission responsibility through investment in the 
National Ministries Division, represented the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 
at the talks. 
 
    The religious leaders' statement, issued by the Rev. Thomas Quigley, 
president-director of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, and the Rev. 
John Boonstra, executive minister of the Washington Association of 
Churches: 
 
                  A Joint Statement from Religious Leaders 
             of the Jewish and Christian Communities of Seattle 
 
    "Tonight begins the Chanukah festival of dedication and light, one of 
the first struggles for liberation recorded in history.  We are part of a 
worldwide history of liberation.  Tonight we travel from the circle of 
protest into the time of dedication, to carrying on this struggle 
throughout our communities, our workplaces, our towns and countries. 
 
    "We have been brought together by many, many issues, and by one cause: 
to stop the course of the WTO.  Think about what has been united here this 
week:  labor issues, third world women, trade unionism, ecology of forests, 
stopping GMO's, farms and farmers, debt cancellation, environmental 
protection, cultural diversity, rights of indigenous peoples, public 
health, and the commodification of our lives.  One big movement!  One 
struggle for freedom! 
 
    "We call for a halt to new trade negotiations until the member 
countries of the WTO agree to give priority to accountability, human 
rights, ecology, and sustainable development, over trade liberalization and 
privatization. 
 
    "We are here in solidarity.  "Don't stand on your neighbor's blood," 
(Leviticus 19) we are commanded.  We are here to affirm the sanctity of 
life:  the sanctity of earth, the sanctity of all her species, the sanctity 
of each culture, and the sanctity of each person and our human connections. 
We are joined together from all religious traditions, ethnicities, race and 
class, across countries, hemispheres, transcending all divisions in common 
sister- and brotherhood. 
 
    "Tens of thousands of people demonstrated, and millions have become 
enlightened, about the World Trade Organization and its devastating impact 
on working families, the environment and human rights.  Throughout this 
week the groups that were peacefully protesting have found common purpose 
and now are inextricably linked. 
 
    "We affirm the solidarity of the religious community with all the 
non-violent protesters who have kept the focus on these issues.  We deplore 
the violence that has occurred this week and rededicate ourselves to 
confronting it.  We have witnessed the birth of a movement across the 
world.  We dedicate ourselves to continue raising our voices. 
 
    "Let us honor protest as an act of love and compassion.  Let us 
celebrate every one here who has moved us forward this week.  The struggle 
to repair our world, to improve the condition of human beings, to care for 
all of life, will continue and grow. 
 
    "We proclaim our commitment to Jubilee, a Jubilee of linking arms and 
breaking chains.  A Jubilee of release from control, release from debt, 
release from oppression.  A Jubilee of release to liberty, to respect for 
the earth, to caring and compassion.  We read in scripture, "You must 
proclaim freedom to the whole earth, to all her inhabitants."  (Leviticus 
25)  May the God of history, the source of blessing, give strength to this 
word, to transform the hearts of all people."  

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