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GA06062
Ecumenical breakfast Justice for the earth and all its creatures
by Shane Whisler
BIRMINGHAM, June 18 * The Rev. Susan Davies passionately articulated a call for people in developed nations to see Christ in the face of all human beings, and to change the dominant economic system from which we derive a comfortable living.
"Let our private, commercial, social and religious lives contribute to sustaining rather than destroying life on earth," she said. "And all its creatures, including the human ones."
Davies, a professor and dean at Bangor Theological Seminary, presented principles for a new economic mindset to persons gathered Saturday morning for the Ecumenical Breakfast at the 217th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). She represented the Covenanting for Justice Network of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and is also a United Church of Christ minister.
Davies delivered a document "hot off the press" to serve as a guide for living out the principles established in a confession on justice in the economy and the earth drafted by WARC at a meeting in Accra, Ghana, in 2004. The Council for World Mission joined with WARC a month ago in Malaysia to draft "Living Out the Accra Confession: Implications for Our Spirituality and Mission."
Davies said the dominant economic system of the world says that people who cannot pull their own weight are disposable. And those who profit from it are merely getting their just rewards, she said to the crowd of more than 100 persons.
"Many faithful Christians believe the current system is the best," she said, citing that free-trade agreements have actually made more people even more desperate to cross the U.S. border.
Davis said the document she presented is available on the WARC Web site. It offers guidance on the way to create an economic system that means sacrifice on our parts, she said. The document outlines three guiding principles: sustainability, justice and well-being.
"It sounds like you are not in favor of profits," one listener said after the presentation.
"It depends on what is done with the profits and how those profits were made," Davis replied. "With the emphasis on the latter."
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