“First Report of the Christian Doctrine of Wealth Committee of the Congregational Union of Scotland” presented to the Union’s Assembly at Dundee on 10 May, 1962, ‘Wealth: A Christian View’ was known colloquially by monetary reformers around the world as the ‘Dundee Report.
CCMJ was created sometime after 1964 to explore and promote the findings of a Scottish Commission…………….
MONEY – A CHRISTIAN VIEW FIRST REPORT OF THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE
OF WEALTH COMMITTEE OF THE CONGREGATIONAL UNION OF SCOTLAND
Presented to the Assembly at Dundee on May 10,1962
With a Foreword by The Very Rev. Dr. George. F. MacLeod, m.c.,
Formerly issued (without Foreword or Appendix) as “A Christian Doctrine of Wealth ” [Pub. WILLIAM MACLELLAN 210 Hope Street, Glasgow ]
WEALTH: A CHRISTIAN VIEW’
” It is my strongly held belief that the “Findings” of the Dundee report of 1962 have stood the test of time well, and are as relevant today as the day it was written. It cannot be restated too often that to have the creation of our medium of exchange in the monopoly hands of private Usurers is a root cause of current evils. Despite constant attacks believers of all faith traditions have known this since the earliest times.” Ken Palmerton
Findings of the First Report of the Christian Doctrine of Wealth of the Congregational Union of Scotland presented to the Assembly at Dundee 1962
As the result of our investigations we have come to the following conclusions:
I. We believe that the existing system of debt-finance, whereby practically all money comes into circulation as interest-bearing debt, is prejudicial to human well-being, a drag on the development and distribution of wealth, finds no justification in the nature of things, and perpetuates a wrong conception of the function of money in human society.
II. We believe that the virtual monopoly of credit enjoyed by the banking system is contrary to reason and justice. When a bank makes a loan, it monetises the credit of a credit-worthy customer, admittedly a necessary service. But when it has done this, it hands him back his monetised credit as a debt to the bank plus 6, 8 or 9 per cent. There seems to be an anomaly here, masked by the use and wont, that calls for examination. The true basis of credit is found in the assets of the nation — men, labour, skills, natural resources and the enormous power for production now in human hands. The creation and function of money ought to bear a strict relation to those physical facts, and to nothing else.
III. We believe that the existing system constitutes a barrier to peace and disarmament. It involves the trade war with resulting international friction. It requires the priming of the financial pump through the colossal expenditure on armaments in the cold war situation. By this means vast sums are put into circulation without a corresponding production of consumer goods. It seems difficult to deny the assertion made by Professor Galbraith and others that without the expansion of the economy in this way there would be economic collapse in the U.S.A. and in this country. Since we are confident that it is not beyond the wit of man to devise a system from which these features would be absent, we would urge that it is an imperative Christian duty to press for the introduction of such a system.
Quilligan, Hudson, Harrison, Korten and Milne all have a view of wealth set in Natural Law, not human convention. The thought is captured here:
‘The Earth does not have enough for the North to live better and better, but it does have enough for us all to live well.’ Evo Morales, President Bolivia
Ruskin was pithier still – ‘There is no wealth but life”. ‘Real Wealth is Life itself.’
If comprehensive Life and inclusive Justice are to flourish then a redefinition of wealth is badly needed.
Thus Tim Jackson’s reason for writing ‘Prosperity without Growth’
We must be absolutely clear that non-violent resistance and struggle is our only chance. Not because the capacity and willingness of the plutocracy to use violence is infinitely greater. But because our values — non-violent conflict resolution, empathy, taking care of one another, true equality, and sharing of both work and the benefits of that work — are our greatest strength and our only hope.
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There is John Ruskin’s vision of the common wealth of Britain’s rich cultural traditions to draw on when building a sustainable social future. Ruskin offers a compass in Unto This Last, celebrating the fact that:
“There is no wealth but life. Life, including all its powers of love, of joy, and of admiration. That country is richest which nourishes the greatest number of noble and happy human beings; that man is richest who, having perfected the functions of his own life to the utmost, has also the widest helpful influence. both personal, and by means of his possessions, over the lives of others.”
http://tinyurl.com/6rnnh9n for 2009 book ‘Right Relationship: Building a Global Economy’
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