wfn.org | Committee reaffirms church's strong commitment to peace and global

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

Note #6638 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

justice
12-June-2001
GA01077

Committee reaffirms church's strong commitment to peace and global justice

Resolution passed on human rights, peace keeping and environment 

by Luca Negro

LOUISVILLE, June 12 - With 165 church partners in over 80 countries, 346
missionaries working overseas, a wide range of international projects and
ministries, and  Non Governmental Organization (NGO) status at the United
Nations, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is a national denomination that
has developed a strong global awareness.

	This point was clearly reflected in the work of the General Assembly
Committee on Global Issues, which discussed and made recommendations on 20
different proposals to come before the 213th General Assembly.  These
proposals range from peacemaking activities to environmental issues and
expressing the concerns of the PC(USA) on injustice and conflict situations
in various parts of the world.

	The committee approved a resolution on peacemaking, reaffirming the value
of the 18-year-old  "Commitment to Peacemaking" which has been signed by
leaders of scores of Presbyterian congregations expressing their commitment
to integrating peacemaking into the life and mission of the local church.
The committee also endorsed the research and development of a "Global
Nonviolent Peace Force", as recommended by the Peoples' Millennium Forum at
the United Nations in May 2000.

	The Global Issues Committee underlined the importance of addressing the
problem of the trade of small arms and light weapons, which are mainly
responsible for the death of more than 5 million people in over 100 wars
worldwide in the past 10 years. A major United Nations conference on Small
Arms and Light Weapons is due to be held in July and the resolution
expresses the hope that this will help mobilize international concern on an
issue thus far almost neglected.

	A whole string of resolutions deals with human rights and the promotion of
a culture of dialogue between nations and cultures. The committee endorsed
the Human Rights Update, which has been prepared every year for the last ten
years  by the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP). The
report is sent to all Presbyterian congregations for prayerful study and
advocacy, and points to violations of human rights internationally listed
under five headings: civil rights, political, economical, social-cultural
and religious rights. Another resolution acknowledges the importance of the
year 2001, which was designated by the United Nations as the "International
Year of Dialogue among Civilizations," and encourages the U.S. government to
support this initiative as the beginning of ongoing efforts to enable
cultural exchange, avoiding conscious or unconscious stereotyping or
denigration of other religious and cultural practices. The United Nations
has also designated 2001 as the "International Year of Mobilization against
Racism," and this initiative has been commended by the Global Issues
Committee, together with the proposal to include March 21 as the "Day to End
All Forms of Racial Discrimination" in the denominational planning calendar.

	The Committee also expressed support for a third United Nations initiative,
the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the
Children of the World. Concluding its own denominational focus on the Year
of the Child, the Committee will ask the General Assembly to engage in a
series of actions in order to make "the future of the child in the 21st
century" a permanent priority in the life of the church. The discussion
focused particularly on the problem of child pornography, easily available
on the Internet. Another resolution deals with the so called "sex tourism,"
reaffirming the existing PC(USA) policy and federal law on sexual
exploitation of children.

	"From children to women: a resolution prepared by the Advocacy Committee
for Women's Concerns" was carried, urging acknowledgement of the growing
"feminization" of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and directing the Worldwide
Ministries Division of the PC(USA) to set up an extensive program to address
AIDS in Africa and to consider initiating projects in Southeast Asia, an
area which may soon be at the center of the epidemic.

	Another global-related resolution was an overture presented by the
Presbytery of Susquehanna Valley (New York), and approved by the committee
on "Preserving Biodiversity and Halting Mass Extinction" of living species.
This mass extinction, the overture affirms, would fundamentally alter and
undermine the well-being of  humanity (and other surviving creatures),
robbing all future generations of the gifts of wholeness and diversity given
by God, Creator and Sustainer of all life. A heated debate on this overture
concerned the request, made to president Bush, to reverse his order to ban
U.S. assistance to international family planning agencies that support
abortion. The point was approved, but a minority report will also be
presented to the Assembly.

	A series of other motions expressing concern for ongoing conflicts in
various parts of the world were also approved:

* Support for the peace process in Northern Ireland;

* Withdrawal of Israeli forces and settlements from the Palestinian occupied
territories and support for peace efforts in the Middle East;

* Development of peaceful alternatives to the United States' "War on Drugs"
in Colombia;

* Condemnation of ongoing killings and persecution in Sudan, with particular
reference to the involvement of Talisman Oil Company (and other oil
companies) in the Southern part of the African country;

* A call for full and open dialogue in Congo, withdrawal of all foreign
troops, a complete United Nations peacekeeping presence and free and fair
elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo;

* Concern for overzealous activities of the U.S. Commission on religious
freedom in Egypt, which might cause harm to the patient dialogue between
Christians and Moslems.

	Finally, as the ancient Romans used to say of dessert, "dulcis in fundo"
(the sweet comes at the end), a resolution was passed dealing with sugar and
coffee, asking all Presbyterian congregations to use fair-traded organic
sugar and coffee, as a means for educating church members about the social
and environmental consequences of a globalized economy and the social
benefits of fair trade.

_______________________________________________
pcusaNews mailing list
pcusaNews@pcusa.org

To unsubscribe, go to this web address:
http://pcusa01.pcusa.org/mailman/listinfo/pcusanews