Peterson Toscano's A Musing

Powerful Letter from US Churches

Greg Morrisee, a cool UCC minister friend of mine near Boston e-mailed me, "The US Conference for the World Council of Churches to the 9th Assembly in Brasil wrote this letter that is absolutely incredible. Definitely worth reading and sharing. It's basically what the Christian Churches in the US are saying to the Christian Churches in the world. If only it were echoed... you know... anywhere."

The vast majority of the peoples of the earth live in crushing poverty. The starvation, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the treatable diseases that go untreated indict us, revealing the grim features of global economic injustice we have too often failed to acknowledge or confront. Our nation enjoys enormous wealth, yet we cling to our possessions rather than share.

We have failed to embody the covenant of life to which our God calls us; hurricane Katrina revealed to the world those left behind in our own nation by the rupture of our social contract. As a nation we have refused to confront the racism that exists in our own communities and the racism that infects our policies around the world. We confess that we have failed to raise a prophetic voice loud enough and persistent enough to call our nation to seek just economic structures so that sharing by all will mean scarcity for none. In the face of the earth’s poverty, our wealth condemns us. Lord, have mercy.

Read the whole letter here

posted by Peterson Toscano @ 6:15 PM