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Free trade is not free: UCC urges opposition to
FTAA
Weekly Message 2001, #11 from the UCC Justice and
Peace Ministry
[4-24-01]
Thousands of protesters, including many from around the United Church of
Christ, gathered in Quebec City this past week to oppose "fast
track" government negotiations to create a free trade zone that
encompasses all of the western hemisphere. Known as the Free Trade Area
of the Americas (FTAA), this expansion of the North America Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) would intensify the "race to the bottom"
that has already enhanced corporate profits at the expense of the
world's poorest workers. The General Synod of the United Church of
Christ passed a resolution opposing NAFTA and has called for fair trade
policies that do not exploit the poor and endanger the environment.
The FTAA would allow products made in poor Central and South American
countries to be sold tariff-free in the United States and Canada. This
makes it easier for corporations to move or threaten to move operations
to areas with lower wages and weaker enforcement of environmental laws.
The result of such tariff-free sales is that businesses will compete to
relocate where they can pay the lowest possible wage. Under the FTAA,
for example, workers in Mexico would be pitted against even more
desperate workers in Haiti, Guatemala, or Brazil. This would further
depress wages and degrade the environment throughout the Americas.
Like NAFTA, the FTAA elevates free trade and profit generation above all
other values. Trade policy is no longer a global issue of nation versus
nation, but a moral issue of rich against the poor.
Let your members of Congress know that both FTAA and "Presidential
Trade Promotion Authority" are unacceptable. Call the Congressional
switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
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Visit
our lively
new website! |
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GA actions
ratified (or not) by the presbyteries
A number of the most important actions of the 219th
General Assembly have now been acted upon by the presbyteries,
confirming most of them as amendments to the PC(USA) Book of Order.
We provided resources to help inform the
reflection and debate, along with updates on the voting.
Our three areas of primary interest have been:
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Amendment 10-A,
which removes the current ban on
lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender persons being considered as
possible candidates for ordination as elder or ministers.
Approved! |
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Amendment 10-2,
which would add the Belhar Confession to our Book of
Confessions. Disapproved, because as an amendment
to the Book of Confessions it needed a 2/3 vote, and did not
receive that. |
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Amendment
10-1, which adopts the new Form of Government
that was approved by the Assembly. Approved. |
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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