This is God's Earth

Adopted by SACC & Church Representatives on 19 June 2002
in preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) 

1. A Theological Challenge

The World Summit on Sustainable Development held in our own country this year, presents the Church in South Africa with a God-given opportunity to consider the issues that arise from the theme, People, Planet, Prosperity.  These include poverty, unemployment, biodiversity, population growth, climate change, pollution, access to resources, health and well-being.

Most importantly, as Churches, it provides us with an opportunity to reflect theologically on these issues.  We do this drawing on our theological heritage that includes our engagement in contextual and critical theologies in the struggle against apartheid; and our African identity that informs our spirituality.

Living in a nation that knows both the joy of freedom and democracy, as well as the pain of poverty and disease, we furthermore seek to reflect theologically out of our commitment to the poor and our nation-wide experience of grass-roots action for better people and communities.  It is therefore important that we raise the concerns of both the faith and of the faithful in this process.

As we do so, what becomes clear is that many of the concerns have to do with power and its unequal distribution in the world, and in our society.

 

2. Results of 'Development'

We are particularly keen to reflect theologically on the paradigms and worldviews that inform the current debates about sustainability and development.  We do this because we are convinced that they have not delivered the better world that we all desire, and are indeed a contributing factor to the fact that many people are no better off now than they were at the first World Summit in Rio 10 years ago.  The United Nations Millennium Report notes that:

·        Nearly half the world’s population lives on less than R20 a day, and people living in sub-Saharan Africa are almost as poor today as they were 20 years ago.  Furthermore, 1 billion people living in developed countries earn 60 percent of the world’s income, while the 3.5 billion living in low-income countries earn less than 20 per cent.

·        Of the total world labour force of 3 billion, 140 million workers are out of work altogether, and a quarter to a third are underemployed.  60 million young people are searching for work, but cannot find any.  A quarter of a billion children aged 14 and under work, often in hazardous or unhealthy conditions.

·        Less than 10 per cent of the R560 billion a year spent globally on health research is aimed at the health problems affecting 90% of the worlds people so that Pneumonia, diarrhea, tuberculosis and malaria receive less than 1% of the global health research budget.  This happens while the annual death toll from diseases caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation exceeds 5 million, 10 times the number killed in wars.

·        By 2000, 36 million people were living with HIV/AIDS, with more than 23 million in sub-Saharan Africa.  By 2010 there will be 40 million orphans in sub-Saharan Africa.

·        5 million people have died in ‘internal’ wars since 1990, while approximately 500 million small arms are in circulation around the world.

·        Average temperatures are set to increase by 1.2^o to 3.5^o over the next century, melting glaciers and polar ice caps, and raising sea levels, and adding to the 25 million “environmental refugees” who were forced from their homes in 1998 alone.  The cost of natural disasters increased 900 percent between the 1960s and 1990s.

·        1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, while half of humanity lacks adequate sanitation, and if present trends continue, by 2050 two out of three people on Earth will live in countries where water consumption exceeds 10 percent of total water supply.

·        65 million hectares of forest were lost in the developing world between 1990 and 1995, and every year an additional 20 million hectares of agricultural land becomes too degraded for crop production, or is lost to urban sprawl.  On top of this, 70 percent of ocean fisheries are either fully exploited or over-fished

We who live and work in the Africa, know first hand the devastation that this 'development' has wrought on our people.  We can see its impact on:

·        The social fabric of our communities

·        Women and children

·        The environment

·        The retrenchment economy that offers only unemployment

·        Social services which are available only for those who can afford them.

 

As people who worship and follow the God of life, we are deeply troubled by this state of affairs.  It would seem that five decades of ‘development’ have not helped at all, and may in fact be contributing to the problem.  Upon deeper reflection, we see that we are the victims of the many false promises of 'development', and in order to understand this we need to explore where the dominant understanding of 'development' comes from and why it has chosen the path that it has.  This will necessarily involve us in some philosophical reflection, but in a world in which the truth is often hidden from view it is a vital task for Christians who follow him who is the way, the truth and the life.

 

3.  The dominant development paradigm.

In the field of development, Africa has had its creative and courageous thinkers who have drawn on the best insights from this continent and other traditions in the world, to suggest ways in which Africa can develop.  However, these have been greatly overshadowed and rendered impotent by the dominant development paradigm emerging out of the west.

At the time of the Enlightenment in Europe, new understandings of time, progress, history, and human agency, were promoted by philosophers and scientists.  Out of this, the 'modern' worldview emerged, which has led to much scientific discovery and technological progress.  Many of the key ideals that we cherish - such as freedom, equality, democracy - grew out of this process.

However, this worldview cannot be separated from the emergence at the same time of individualism, capitalism, colonialism, and secularism.  With ideas of progress and growth, also came concepts of social evolution and of a hierarchy of cultures and races.  This process also gave birth to a change of attitude towards nature and the earth, as vast areas of the globe where exploited for the sake of 'progress'.

Technically, the relationship between colonial and colonised nations came to an end with the First World War, but by the end of the Second World War it had re-emerged in the relationship between developed and undeveloped nations.   Almost without exception the colonial powers were considered 'developed', whereas the colonised nations were now 'undeveloped'.   The same ideas of progress and growth continued to dominate the thinking of this relationship.  With the emergence of the USA as a major force in the world, it was they who set the agenda as to what was developed, and it is no surprise then that the focus of being developed moved away from concerns with people and their cultures, and began to focus exclusively on the economy.

Throughout the Cold War period the Western idea of development was challenged by Communist ideas of progress.  The dominant nations of both East and West sought to persuade nations in the South to adopt their paradigm for development, a process that involved development aid in various guises (grants, loans, bribes, or gifts), military assistance, and political interference.  With the end of the Cold War, the western capitalist model has emerged unchallenged, and its vision of globalization is now the one and only model for growth and 'development'. 

The dominant development paradigm today then suggests that by building up the economy, nations, societies and people will be developed.  The focus then is upon economic growth, and the way in which globalization can aid growth.  In the process a host of other factors to do with people, community, culture, and the earth have been lost.  Nations are forced to participate in a world economic system in which the rules are made in favour of the rich and powerful.  Institutions such as the IMF, World Bank, the G8, the Paris Club and World Trade Organisation make use of a variety of instruments such as Structural Adjustment Programmes and Trade barriers to make it difficult for poorer nations to participate in such a way that builds up their people and local communities.

Furthermore, the dominant paradigm suggests that development should be led from the top, and is dependent upon outside intervention and aid.  Local initiatives, choices and decisions that emerge out of the cultures and insights of local people are bypassed in favour of the opinions of consultants and other 'experts'.  Long held patterns of community and sustainability, and understandings of people and the earth are thus overridden, and replaced with the 'modern' idea of progress and 'development', which paradoxically leads, as we have seen, to poverty of both body and spirit for billions of people across the world.

Because of its focus on growth and progress, rather than on distribution and sharing, the practice that emerges out of this development paradigm reinforces the unequal relationships that are in society.  This is particularly manifested in racism, ethnic tensions, and in the distorted power relations between men and women.  Many have noted, for example, that during the period of the United Nations Decade for the Advancement of Women (1975-1985), the socioeconomic status of the great majority of women in the Third World in fact worsened considerably.

This development paradigm is not without its supporters amongst Christians, and it appeals to many within the church due to its focus on charity, welfare and aid, and because it is the status quo which should not be challenged.  In many of the nations of the North and West, Christians and Churches are deeply integrated into the dominant ‘modern’ paradigm and the economic system of the global world, and it is from this perspective that they view development and the calling of the Church.  There is, then, a strong temptation for the Church to become captive to the dominant understanding of development to the detriment of the poor and vulnerable. 

 

4.  Development visions in Africa

It is important to note that there have been some alternatives to the dominant paradigm, many of which have emerged from the South, and from previously colonized people themselves.  Africa has also given birth to alternative modes of development through leaders such as Amilcar Cabral, Kwame Nkruma, Julius Nyerere and Steve Biko.  These modes of development have stressed the agency of Africans in their own development, as well as the relationship between development and overthrowing the centuries long legacy of slavery, colonialism, and ethnic conflict.  Drawing on African cultural traditions, and often deeply influenced by Christian values, they have focused on issues of distribution and justice, rather than just on economic growth and free market idealism.

Many of these alternative paths have flourished for a while, and then collapsed through the pressures of world political and economic forces, and lack of local capacity.  Such failures have left African countries in a precarious position subject to global economic forces over which they have little control, growing debt burdens, and unfavourable trade rules.

In recent months, African heads of state have sought to once again place Africa on the agenda of world development through the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD).  It is important to participate in discussions around NEPAD, exploring how deeply it may be rooted in the dominant paradigm, and how much it is influenced by alternative and African visions for development. 

As we undertake such reflection, we recognize the practical vitality of reflecting upon the paradigms that shape our thinking about development.

 

5.  Theological Insights

In response to this modern secular philosophy that undergirds the dominant development paradigm, and its Christian supporters, it is important to draw on some key theological insights so that we as Christians can offer an alternative that affirms the abundant life that is Christ's gift to us.

a) The Earth belongs to God

A Christian understanding of social struggles and development must begin with an affirmation that this is God's earth, and all that we seek to do in, with and to it, should be done out of this recognition.  This means that all human life, and all living things, including the earth and its bounty, is a gift from God and is to be cherished, respected and enjoyed, and any right to private property must be circumscribed by this recognition of God’s fundamental ownership of all things.  Every human owner must therefore recognize the ‘social mortgage’ on property, meaning that property should be stewarded for the good not just of the owner but for the good of others.

We cannot therefore be party to any process or system that treats life or the earth as a commodity, nor anything that does not recognise that all people of the earth hold ownership of the resources of the earth in common, what is sometimes known as the ‘global commons’.

 

b) The vision of Shalom

The Christian faith does not just look backwards to creation, or to a once golden period in the past, but rather looks forward in hope to the coming Reign of God.  The Scriptures speak of this hope in many ways but the dominant vision is that of 'Shalom', a time of well-being, right relations, justice and peace.  It is a time in which the whole of creation is fulfilled in the presence of God, a time in which human beings, nature and the earth itself is whole.  This vision is one of great equality in which all are able to participate in and benefit from the wealth of God’s Reign..

We cannot therefore be party to a system that seeks to create peace and security for one section of the earth at the expense of others.  Rather than just focusing on growth and wealth, development must focus on the just distribution of that wealth amongst those who labour to create it.

 

c) The dignity of labour

One of the greatest gifts that God gives to humanity is the invitation to participate in creation itself, through the exercise of labour.  This labour and work is the way in which people create a hospitable world, secure food and shelter, develop partnerships, and exercise a broad range of skills and talents towards the vision of shalom.  With its origin in God's own creation, labour seeks to serve the same ends.  Yet this is not the case today in which we see two unacceptable faces of labour - as both a means to make huge profits, and generate wealth and privilege for an elite few who own their own labour, and as degrading and uncreative toil for so many in the world, including children, who must sell their labour to survive. 

We cannot therefore accept a system in which people are seen simply as units of production and consumption.  Rather than uniting us to God and each other, this form of labour is a major source of alienation from life and one another.  We need to support the global struggle for just work.

 

d) The persistence of sin

While it is not fashionable in many circles today, it is important for Christians to speak plainly and honestly about the presence and persistence of sin in society.  This is not the un-Biblical view which puts the blame for poverty on the sins of the poor, but rather sees the challenge and task to struggle against and to seek to overcome sin, and its manifestation in poverty, injustice and the degradation of the earth.  At the same time, however, any scheme of development that promises progress and growth, without taking sin into account is bound to fail, for it will not have a realistic view of the possibilities of what can be achieved in history.

We cannot therefore accept the bland promises of growth and development that are not realistic about the persistence of sin.  God’s reign of justice and peace is a gift from God, and not something that ‘development’ can achieve.  The claim to achieve this can make development itself sinful.  Furthermore, because of the presence of sin, we need to be ever vigilant about transparency amongst ourselves so that we can keep one another accountable to the values of truth and honesty thus avoiding the pitfalls of nepotism, patronage and personal enrichment that so often accompany development.

 

 

e) Commitment to the poor

With our appreciation of this being God's earth and our vision of and for Shalom, we are challenged to be engaged in building a better world for all.  Through our faith in God, whose option for the poor was made clear through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, we ourselves profess a commitment to the poor.  The hopes and dreams, as well as the concrete actions of the poor themselves must provide the lead in the struggle for development.  Christians therefore are called to work and struggle alongside the movements and organisations of women, children, the unemployed, indigenous peoples, disabled people, land hungry communities and exploited workers who are agents of their own freedom and development in our time.

We cannot therefore accept a global system in which a great number of the world’s citizens are getting poorer, and the gap between the rich and the poor is widening at an alarming rate.  The waste of public money through war, militarization, debt repayments, corruption, and the interrelationship between poverty and AIDS are key matters of concern for those who are concerned to struggle alongside the poor.

 

f) Sustainable earth

Our commitment to poor and marginalised people and communities is at the same time a commitment to the earth itself, for the future of the poor is dependent upon the future of the earth, and likewise the future of the earth is dependent upon the future of the poor.  We are aware that many communities are wracked with internal power conflicts between ruling elites and the vulnerable poor, between men and women, between old and young people, and amongst communities themselves, often over the increasingly scarce resources of the earth.  We speak therefore of sustaining life in communities that embody right relations, equity and justice, and this in the context of sustaining the earth and being sustained by the earth in turn.

We cannot therefore support the dominant vision of sustainable development that undermines both the earth and the poor.  Our commitment is to sustainable communities that live and develop by caring for, nurturing and sustaining the people of the earth and the earth which belongs to God, and which God has given us for our sustenance. 

This is a vision that has sustained the people of God for centuries in many and diverse circumstances.  It is a vision that grows out of obedience to the God of life:

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does God require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?  (Micah 6:8)