What Does God Require of Us?
A Declaration for Just Trade in the Service of An Economy Of Life – January 14, 2004
This declaration is the result of a consultation held on January 11 – 14, 2004 in Stony Point, New York, USA. We gathered as people of God coming from churches in Canada, the United States and Mexico and also from other regions of the world. We recognize that the countries we come from play different roles in the present global context in terms of their economic, political and military power. By God’s grace in Christ Jesus we have come together in a community of solidarity. In this spirit, we formulated this declaration and we pledge to cooperate ecumenically for fair and just trade agreements and an economy that serves life.
Click here to view the declaration.
Click here to examine the English – Spanish worship resources created for the consultation:
- Living a Legacy of Justice Making: Opening Celebration
- Lamentation and Confession
- Evening Prayer
- Resistance and Hope: Casting Fire
- Evening Prayer
- Bread of Blessing, Closing Worship
Theological Reflections
- The Economy of Grace and the Market Logic M. Douglas Meeks, 18 pages
This paper contains some of the themes Dr. Meeks developed in his consultation addresses and are also found in his book, “God the Economist: The Doctrine of God and Political Economy” Minneapolis: Fortress Press. - Theology of the EconomyClodomiro L. Siller, 3 pages
Notes for presentation made at the Just Trade post-consultation meeting, Mexico City, April 1, 2004, in Spanish. - Canadian Theological Presentation Brian Walsh, 29 pages
Comments Brian made at the pre-consultation on October 1, 2003 were based on a manuscript written with Sylvia Keesmaat. Brian looked specifically at Col. 1.15-20 and 3.10-17. The question that was asked at the end was, if Colossians is subversive of empire and offers an ethic that is alternative to empire, and if that ethic has political and ecological implications something like he suggests in these notes, then what are the implications of this text for our engagement with globalization and trade agreements? - Ethics of GlobalizationLee Cormie 31 pages
This paper probes both the shifting contours of the debates and struggles over globalization(s), and the impacts of the shifting contours of globalization(s) on ethics. Specifically, it outlines one very influential pole in the debates and struggles over globalization, the “Washington consensus” as some of its architects call it, or “neoliberal globalization” or “corporate power” or “capitalist globalization” as its critics refer to it; an increasingly visible second pole in global debates and struggles, the “anti-globalization” or “global social justice” movements; the spreading processes of discernment and dialogue and growing volume of church statements concerning “globalization” or some aspect of it, like debt cancellation or free trade proposals; and some ways debates about and struggles over globalization are globalizing ethics.
Canadian Church Policy Background Paper
Canadian Church Statements on Trade Agreements, New Areas of Concern for the Churches, Churches Urge the Creation of a Neighbourly Economy, Church Participation in Action For Justice