wfn.org | Commentary: Plight of farmers a religious issue

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Sept. 22, 1999 News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.   10-21-24-71B{483}

NOTE: A head-and-shoulders photograph of Bishop Carder is available. 

A UMNS Commentary
by Bishop Kenneth Carder*

A recent meeting with farmers challenged and disturbed me. Having spent my
childhood and youth on a farm where we grew our own food and earned a small
income, I thought I knew a little about the farm crisis. However, a way of
life has passed away in one generation. The plight of modern farmers is far
more complex and serious than I assumed.

The crisis is real! This year's drought has only hastened the extinction of
the family farm, added to the suffering of many families, and intensified a
dangerous cultural and economic reality. Farmers who have tilled the same
soil for generations are now facing the prospect of losing
the family inheritance. The food supply will be further concentrated in the
hands of fewer large corporations. The chasm between people and the land
will grow wider.

It is a personal crisis requiring diligent and sensitive pastoral care. Farm
families need support and encouragement.  Pray for farmers and their
families. Visit them in their fields and homes. Listen to their stories and
learn of their plight.

The farm crisis is a public policy issue that merits attention by all
citizens.  Do we want the food supply to be concentrated in the hands of
fewer decision makers? What would be a just and compassionate farm policy?
How can we better use our production capacity to feed the hungry?  Are we
subsidizing our opulent life-styles on the backs of farmers by paying less
for food than almost every other 'developed' nation in the world?

The farm crisis is a profound theological issue. The ownership and use of
the land is at the heart of what it means to acknowledge God as creator and
human beings as stewards. When land is viewed merely as utilitarian and
totally subject to market forces, the image of God and the purpose of
humanity are distorted.  Appreciation for the intrinsic value of the earth
is lost. And biblical stewardship defined as sharing the earth's abundance
gets lost amid the pursuit of profits.

The crisis is not new. The prophet Micah confronted it more than 2,800 years
ago. Israel and Judah faced collapse. Micah was convinced that the problem
centered largely in the land question and the treatment of those who tilled
the soil. Farmers were losing their farms by having to borrow money and
pledging the farm and even themselves and their families as security.

Micah's words are as descriptive of today's farm crisis as they were when
they were first spoken:
"Alas for those who devise wickedness and evil deeds upon their beds; When
the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in their power; They covet
fields, and seize them; houses, and take them away; They oppress householder
and house, people and their heritage." (Micah
2:1-2)

Micah merits careful attention. The farm crisis is a theological crisis for
us all.

# # #

*Carder is bishop of the Nashville Area of the United Methodist Church,
which includes the Tennessee and Memphis Annual Conferences.

Commentaries provided by United Methodist News Service do not necessarily
represent the opinions or policies of UMNS or the United Methodist Church.

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