Bishop's letters: August 05 +Graham

We must not forget G8

The campaign to Make Poverty History is true to Christian values and the momentum of this summer must not be lost. Jesus told a story known as Dives and Lazarus about a very rich man who did nothing for the poor man who lay starving at his gate. The rich man finished up in torment, the poor man with Abraham in heaven. The rich man then asked Abraham that others on earth be warned of the consequences of ignoring the poor. ‘They have the prophets’, Abraham replied. In other words, The Bible confirms what people should know instinctively: that we must care for the poor. (Luke 16.19-31)

God has always intended the world’s resources to be shared. All human beings equally have a right to live as God intended, enjoying the fruits of the earth and sharing them. So in the face of great contrasts of wealth and poverty, God intends that we should learn to love and give. This is part of what it means to be human. Not to care for the poor is to deny our true humanity.

Around the events of G8 three main areas are highlighted: Relief of Debt, Fair Trade and Compassionate Aid. They are all important.

Relief of Debt Many African countries pay more in debt repayments than they are able to spend on health and education. This cannot be right. Gordon Brown has taken a firm stand to get debts remitted. The principle of debt forgiveness is fundamentally Christian. Again Jesus told a story about a compassionate king who forgave a servant a quite unpayable debt. The king represents God. The servant then got someone arrested who owed him a paltry debt and the forgiving king was very angry. It is a cartoon. But it makes clear that huge forgiveness is God’s business and he calls us to do and be the same (Matthew 18. 23-35). Debt distorts relationships by creating creditors and debtors, the powerful and the weak. Release of debt with forgiveness renews relationships on an equal footing.

Fair Trade The biggest difference to the poverty of African countries will be made if we put an end to protective food and trade subsidies. Both Europe and the US are seriously at fault here. African economies need to become stronger by trading on a level playing field with the rest of the world. Since their labour costs are low, they should then do well. Asian countries like Malaya, Korea and Singapore have done extremely well in the last 50 years partly because the countries in the Asian ring stimulate each other. Africa needs some really strong successful economies too. We must help them all we can.

Compassionate Aid Of course every effort must be made to ensure that the aid must reach those for whom it is intended. But blaming the corruption of African politicians has something of a hollow ring about it when we are keeping our subsidies and the US is refusing to tackle CO2 emissions.

So what can we do? Politicians make decisions in the light of public opinion. We must keep public opinion strong about all these issues. We can gladly pay a £5 tax on air fares (if it happens) so as to give more to Africa. We can press for more debt relief. We can support projects for clean water (eg. Water Aid 020 7793 4500). We can work much harder at environmental issues.
+Graham Dow