Based on a report by the GA in 2002, this essay summarizes the church's position on matters of food production. It provides an overview of policy for the church concerning ways to promote sustainable and equitable farming relationships.
The focus of this paper is environmental degradation, in particular the attitudes toward nature that are still assumed in economic and political decisions and hence in the process of globalization. These assumed attitudes are now in conflict with newly emerging attitudes more conducive to environmental integrity. These old and new attitudes are also foundational to four major perspectives that are at the heart of the environmental debate over globalization. If economic globalization contributes to environmental degradation, it is certainly not the only contributor. Environmental degradation is a complex phenomenon with many causes. It is not a necessary consequence of globalization. …
This resolution affirms that the “issues of water rights and regulatory takings are exceedingly complex.” It also affirms that the “spirit of love and justice and the creation of humans in the image of God that give foundation to rights are God-given.” Th e report, however, reminds the church that rights are “limited by the community’s responsibility to promote the common good and to restrain those who seek individual gain at the expense of others and the community as a whole.”
This resolution revised "The Power to Speak Truth to Power" (1981), While the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has not been silent over these years, the changes required of us, both as a church and as a broader culture have only become more daunting themselves, and we must confess that our own witness and example have not been as strong as they might have been.
New genetic, nano, cyber, and bio-chemical technologies threaten our environment and our own life as a species, sometimes prompting near-panic at the extinction of species (bees, butterflies, coral, polar bears, etc) and at increases in human allergies, autism diagnoses, and effects of hormones on endocrine and reproductive systems. This report reviews the several regulatory approaches needed to protect the biosphere without stifling innovation. Within a sustainability framework, it provides Christian theological concepts and ethical principles for evaluating inevitable trade-offs. More use of the precautionary principle would bring more holistic consideration of social and ecological goods, such as biodiversity, and more …
Without claiming to be a judicial body, but in accord with our understanding of the impacts of concentrated power on the common good, the General Assembly affirms the words of the Supreme Court in 1990 in Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce as it spoke in favor of the government having a compelling interest in legislation to prevent or restrain: "the corrosive and distorting effects of immense aggregations of wealth that are accumulated with the help of the corporate form and that have little or no correlation to the public's support for the corporation's political ideas." As a corollary, the …
This study examines the multiple economic, racial and ethnic, and social disparities that weigh down our current education efforts and impede them from fulfilling this role. The study acknowledges the negative national consequences of an emerging dual track education system- one privileged, one not-and calls for reforms and reinvestment in public education (K-12) in order to offer all children similar opportunities to develop their talents to the fullest and become constructive citizens. From the perspective of the Reformed tradition, with its longstanding commitment to expanding educational access, the study celebrates the value of sharing educational approaches while building a common …
This resolution affirms the extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, and opposes?all measures that would disenfranchise voters on the basis of race or other condition. It supports the re-enfranchisement of felons who have paid their debt to society and "full voting rights" for the District of Columbia. It urges variability of voting machine totals, as well as "best practices" in the administration of elections. It opposes "caging," "purging lists," special ID requirements, and other arbitrary challenges and intimidation of voters. It favors public funding and lobbying restrictions designed to curb favoritism and conflicts of interest. Beyond …
The 165th General Assembly made the following pronouncement for the guidance of Presbyterians: 'All human life should be lived in accordance with the principles established by God for the life of men and of nations. This is a tenet of Biblical religion. It is also a basic emphasis in our Presbyterian heritage of faith. 'As individuals and as a group, Christians are responsible for adjusting their thought and behavior to those everlasting principles of Scripture. It is no less their responsibility as citizens of their nation, to seek as far as their influence may extend, to bring national life and …
Honest Patriotism addresses threats to the vital freedoms of the First and Fourteenth amendments to the U. S. Constitution due to changes in communications, media, and politics. It calls for measures of public accountability for truthfulness in the public square in all its forms: over public airwaves, through cyberspace, and through required public disclosure by government agencies, profit and nonprofit entities. Except for hate speech, freedom of speech is to be untrammeled, with widest possible access to information, protection of the press, publication of research, and public assembly rights. Respect for privacy of personal information from government or private surveillance …