Resolution on Just Globalization

It is the responsibility of the Christian church to be a critical participant in every political and economic system. We are not cheerleaders of any status quo, nor are we believers that every social change is good. We do not believe in globalization; we support a particular kind of globalization that reflects justice, community, and sustainability for all creation. This is the vision, rooted in Christian faith, that we urge members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to advocate in every social, economic, and political arena.

Almost everyone now is familiar with the power of the world market system; yet the Christian tradition speaks of the whole earth as God’s household—the oikouméne—from the same New Testament Greek word from which we get economics, ecology, and ecumenical. Along with the many wonders of the microchip and instant communication, globalization also brings intensifying economic, technological, educational, and political division among and within countries, including our own United States. Finance capital flows in and out of industries and countries far faster than we can assess the impacts of these shifts; democratic governments can hardly keep up; the diversity of peoples and cultures is threatened; and the spiritual consequences of time pressure and human inequality grow immense.