wfn.org | ALC News Noticias Oct 6 2003

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

ALC NEWS SERVICE
E-mail: director@alcnoticias.org

ALC HEADLINES:
COLOMBIA: AIDS prevention should be promoted in Churches, workshop recommends
BOLIVIA: Methodist Church intervenes and prays in the face of critical 
Bolivian situation
MEXICO: World Evangelical Consultation condemns globalization
BRAZIL: Catholic communicators repudiate sensationalism on TV
ECUADOR:  President Bush is a danger for the world, said US theologian

COLOMBIA
AIDS prevention should be promoted in Churches, workshop recommends

BOGOTA, September 29, 2003 (alc). AIDS prevention education form part of 
the backbone of all social, educational and service projects in our Church, 
said participants at the Celebrate Life workshop held in the San Lucas 
Congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Colombia, in Bogota.

Prevention must reach all arenas related to youth and adolescent education, 
including Sunday School, added participants at the consultation held 
September 13-14 and 20-21.

Convened by Amar Si Da Vida  (ASIVIDA), more than 35 people from different 
Christian communities and civil society organizations attended the 
consultations along with people who have the virus and who were able to 
share their concerns with participants.

We are committed, added the document, to constructing an educational 
message from solidarity and from life and not from a position of fear. Both 
assistance and prevention are aspects of the same reality and are 
complements for an efficient, integral action.

For this reason, it stated, it is important to instill Christian values 
from an early age and this will allow for a reparative and integral 
response within our Church. Talking about AIDS opens discussion about many 
other related issues.

The Gospel calls on us to share the suffering of those who live with 
HIV/AIDS, opening our minds and communities so that these become spaces of 
reconciliation and dialogue, he said.

With young people it is necessary to construct an open and direct dialogue 
that will allow us to eliminate our prejudices

  The document recognizes that the Church itself should be cured of its 
exclusions and fears that have lead to many gestures of stigmatization. 
Accepting stereotypes has lead us to typecast people according to our 
prejudices. We have confused a medical diagnosis with a moral diagnosis. We 
hope that this confession leads us to a change in attitude, said
participants.

In the HIV-AIDS crisis we do not want to be a Church that condemns, 
excludes, stigmatizes and accuses people who live with the pandemic. The 
Gospel calls us to be a Church that loves, gathers, consoles, accompanies, 
heals, liberates and educates.

BOLIVIA
Methodist Church intervenes and prays in the face of critical Bolivian 
situation

LA PAZ, September 30, 2003 (alc). In the face of the serious social and 
political situation currently wracking Bolivia, the Evangelical Methodist 
Church in Bolivia (IEMB) agreed to pray so that the Lord of Life and 
History inspire and help the leaders and all the involved parties until 
national pacification is achieved.

At the same time, we call on the entire Methodist family to pray during 
this difficult time in our beloved Bolivia, said that call signed by the 
Rev. Carlos Intipampa, bishop of the IEMB.

Bolivia has essentially been brought to a standstill by a strike that 
campesinos began 15 days ago, marked by road blocks, and a strike called 
September 30 by all unions affiliated with the Bolivian Workers Central
(COB).

In the face of the recent events that have sparked confrontations between 
the forces of order and campesinos in the Bolivian highlands, 
representatives from the IEMB together with representatives from the 
Permanent Human Rights Assembly of Bolivia and the Ombudsman met on 
September 21 in Achacachi and Warisata, in the province of  Omasuyos, some 
100 kms from La Paz.

Here, a day earlier, a confrontation between campesinos, police and 
military forces lead to the loss of human life, injury and arrest, stated 
the document. Five campesinos and two soldiers were killed.

Moreover, on the evening of October 22 the commission traveled to the 
province of Aroma where the La Paz - Oruro highway was blocked and where 
the confrontation also resulted in several injuries and arrests.

Unfortunately those blocking the highway did not recognize the vehicle the 
Bolivian Human Rights and IEMB representatives were traveling in and stoned 
it. As a result, it was completely destroyed, said Bishop Intipampa.

  According to the statement, the mobilizations in different sectors of 
the country and events in recent days are due to the fact that the central 
government failed to fulfill the demands presented by campesinos two years 
ago.

The situation has been compounded by recent tax measures, the possibility 
that natural gas will be sold and exported via Chile, the polarization of 
parliament and the governments inability to reach a social pact and 
political agreement and its slow response to demands of labor sectors who 
suffer the unilateral imposition of the neoliberal economic model, said 
the statement.

In this process to seek pacification the IEMB will continue to accompany 
the process to seek pacification so that the actors from different social 
and political sectors reach agreements... demonstrating their commitment to 
national interests and the common good, they said.

In this framework, on the 25th the Commission traveled to Luquisani, in 
Muqecas, 250 kms from La Paz, to seek dialogue with those who were blocking 
the highways and to take aid to people who are trapped in the area.

MEXICO
World Evangelical Consultation condemns globalization

QUERETARO, September 29, 2003 (alc). As followers of Christ we must 
challenge what, tragically, constitutes the heart of contemporary 
globalization, the idolatry of Mammon, and its very close ties to 
materialism and consumerism, concluded the II World Consultation that 
addressed the Impact of Globalization on the Poor.

The consultation took place October 22-26 in this city in central Mexico 
and was attended by 185 leaders from Christian organizations in 50 
countries, convened by the Miqueas Network.

In the Queretaro Declaration participants affirmed: Frequently those who 
in power, those who worship before the altar of Mammon, abuse their power 
in order to accumulate in excess.

For Christians, resistance to a consumer society - a society that is based 
on false precepts and distorted values - is not optional. The problems 
raised by global capitalism are not merely economic or technical but moral 
and spiritual, the document stated.

We must recognize that our struggle is not against human beings but 
against powers, against authorities, against the authorities that dominate 
this world of darkness, against malignant forces in celestial regions, the 
statement added.

After specifying that the Miqueas Network is a coalition of Evangelical 
Churches and agencies from different parts of the world committed to an 
integral mission, the final Declaration stated more than 1.2 billion 
people suffer the daily violence of absolute poverty and every day 30,000 
children die from hunger and easily preventable diseases.

In response to this tragedy we recognize that as Church we have done very 
little to address the serious situation of the poor and we have dedicated 
our time during this conference to discussing viable alternative solutions.

Participants stated that The Global Economic System presumes to be the 
road that leads to economic progress that benefits not only industrialized 
countries, but developing nations, both consumers and producers, 
encouraging health competition, disseminating technological knowledge and 
increasing productivity and living standards everywhere, it said.

This Orthodox growth formula, is promoted by the so-called group of eight 
and reinforced by financial institutions such as the World Bank, the 
International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization, it stated.

However, the evidence demonstrates that these suppositions have no 
foundation. The global capitalist system is built on lies, stated the 
document. Rather than reducing poverty, it is one of the factors that 
contribute to extending and deepening this scourge. Its consequences 
include the emergence of a transnational aristocracy that is materially 
rich and politically powerful, in comparison to a growing mass of people 
submerged in poverty and misery.

The growing gap not only between rich and poor nations but between the rich 
and poor within countries, including First World nations, clearly 
demonstrates that the global capitalist system benefits a rich minority but 
condemns the vast majority to live in poverty, said the declaration.

Based on this interpretation of the nature of our struggle, the first 
requirement to fulfill our call is to strengthen ourselves with the great 
power of the Lord and to put on the armor of God. The first step in our 
Christian response to the dehumanizing globalization is to recognize that 
our life and mission have their roots in the Gospel, according to 
participants.

Survival takes precedence over individual property rights. Governments and 
multinational corporations do not own the natural resources in the earth. 
God bestowed the responsibility for developing these resources on them for 
good of all human beings that share the planet, in a way that respects the 
integrity of creation, it affirms.

The tyranny of the economy and the invasion of the market thought in 
every sphere of human life corrodes our moral language, undermines human 
dignity and the legitimacy of the market itself. We are committed to a 
moral and spiritual battle against idolatry, it added.

In order to address the incoherencies of the globalization process, the 
consultation proposes redirecting the global economy and globalization 
processes toward the kingdom of God. Recovery policies and political 
education is central to this task.

The lack of political will on the part of rich nations to reformulate 
local financial institutions and to renew the global economy, in such as 
way so that the benefits of globalization are distributed in a more 
equitable fashion, can only be counter-arrested by a transnational 
mobilization of social movements, it stated.

Finally the Declaration called on the governments of the world to Fulfill 
promises to cancel the un-payable debt of the worlds poorest nations, to 
return the billions of dollars transferred by corrupt politicians to the 
Third World, which is money stolen from the poor and to reform the 
international banking system to eliminate the fiscal havens.

Addressing Churches, the document stated that as a global Evangelical 
community we have the historic opportunity and biblical imperative to 
respond to the great evil that poverty represents in our days.

BRAZIL
Catholic communicators repudiate sensationalism on TV

SAO PAULO, October 1, 2003 (alc). Members of the Communication Pastoral 
from the diocese of Sao Paulo and representatives from Catholic media 
repudiated communication models that awaken and even promote violence and 
death in television programs.

Such programs are an affront to human dignity in favor of sensationalism. 
The statement was made during a regional meeting of communicators and 
agents from the National Bishops Conferences Communication Pastoral, held 
in Santos from September 19-21.

Participants analyzed a great deal of material and critically viewed 
television shows that disseminate negative values.

This material included the interview offered by Gugu Liberato on a program 
called Legal Sunday, broadcast September 7. In the interview, two masked 
men spoke, as members of the criminal gang First Commando of the Capital.

During the interview they threatened to kill several people, including the 
deputy mayor of Sao Paulo, Hilio Bicudo, TV Bandeirantes host, Josi Luiz 
Datena and the Rev. Marcelo Rossi.

Subsequently it was discovered that the two were actors who were paid to 
participate in the farce. The Brazilian justice system has suspended the 
program as the interview incited criminal behavior.

A statement from the Catholic communicators said that television is a 
social good, a public concession that should be at the service of society 
to construct citizen communication, promoting human dignity for the 
formation of a just and fraternal society marked by solidarity.

However, it added that people are the captives of a commercial 
communication system and there is no alternative project.

At the beginning of the meeting on Democratization in the Brazilian 
Television journalist and Sociologist Luarindo Lalo Leal Filho said that 
TV has transformed merchandize into an ideology because consumption is an 
ideology and that within this logic the only people who are citizens are 
consumers.

However, he noted that TV is a medium with diverse potential that could 
contribute to culture and citizenship, for example through documentaries.

Currently the lack of control makes it difficult to present important 
cultural projects and imposes the idea that TV only offers what the public 
wants, he added.

Federal representative Orlando Fantazini, of the Partido de los 
Trabajadores of Sao Paulo recently launched a campaign that is aimed at 
observing television programs to determine which ones do not respect 
international agreements signed by Brazil or the principles and laws that 
protect human rights.

These include inciting crime, torture, lynching and others forms of 
violence, discrimination based on race, gender, religion or sexual 
orientation, anything that encourages child or youth pornography.

Fantazini said that one strategy to combat these types of programs is to 
link them with advertisers under the argument that companies seek to 
present positive balances regarding their responsibilities and social role.

ECUADOR
  President Bush is a danger for the world, said US theologian

By Carlos Ramos
QUITO, October 2, 2003 (alc). US President George Bush represents a danger 
for his nation and the world. Hopefully he will not be re-elected or his 
arrogance will have no limits, affirmed US theologian Juan Stam.

During a monthly breakfast sponsored by the Christian Political Reflection 
Forum, held September 29 in Quito, Stam, who has a recognized trajectory in 
Latin America, mentioned that he recently wrote, at the request of a group 
of students, about the US  presidents political thinking.

  His research involved an in-depth study of Bush discourses from his 
electoral campaign and later as president. According to Stam, there is a 
common denomination, something he summarized as the three Ms: Manicheism, 
messianism and manipulation.

I did not touch on Mr. Bushs personal relationship with God, that is 
between him and God. My analysis is related to the public discourse and its 
religious implications as Mr. Bush says he is a man of faith, an 
Evangelical and a Methodist, said Stam.

Bushs manicheism is expressed in statements about the fact that the 
struggle in todays world is between absolute good and absolute evil: the 
United States represents the good and Muslims the evil. The good are called 
to struggle and put an end to evil and evildoers.

It is also expressed when he says, Those who are not with us are against 
us. Those who do not support the Presidents policy are on the side of the 
terrorists. The mission of the United States is to liberate the world from 
evil and the perversity of the terrorists.

His Messianism is manifested in his conviction that he was elected to free 
the oppressed from authoritarian regimes and bring them to the light of 
American democracy. Under this perspective, US soldiers represent the best 
of the United States and are called to liberate the captives from 
totalitarianism and announce the good news of Western society, he said.

This certainty that he has been chosen for such a transcendental mission 
lead Bush to disregard Pope John Paul IIs request, to place little 
importance on former President Carters opinion or the opinion of European 
allies and the United Nations. He also paid little mind to Methodist 
Bishops who have not been received by one of their most distinguished 
faithful. If he is so certain that he is on the right path, the opinion of 
those who disagree cannot detain the march, said Stam.

The use of photographs of Bush praying, the fact that prior to announcing 
the attack on Iraq he requested a little time to be alone, prayer chains 
for American soldiers, the president and his team during the conflict and 
the fact that the victims of the war were completely overlooked in these 
prayers are examples of manipulating faith for political ends, said Stam.

The conclusion one could reach is that Bush is ignorant on religious issues 
or this is heresy. In either case he places God on the side of war and 
aggression and we Evangelicals know that God proclaims peace, 
reconciliation, pardon and repentance for our sins, love and fraternity 
among people, said Stam.

Finally, the theologian pointed out that currently it is said that in the 
United States there are two powers: the White House and public opinion. 
Public opinion is formed to a great extent by this recent miracle of 
Internet and electronic mail. It is up to us to create opinion, that is our 
task, he said.

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