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Welcome to the Christian Council of Monetary Justice
God’s blessing in creation is for all. God wills everyone to share in the abundance of creation and to play a part in sustaining it. If this is so, why doesn’t it happen? Explore with CCMJ the reason why. Be prepared to discover things you may not know. Be prepared to see how things could be so much better for all and for the earth. Remember – Christ has no hands but yours …

The Christian Council for Monetary Justice is an open forum rather than an elaborate organisation, although it maintains a rudimentary structure, network, and annual meeting. It seeks to enable people far and wide to stimulate a more general awareness of the pertinence of faith to the economic order; and in particular to the urgent need to generate monetary reform.

The fate of most people in times gone by was grim unjust poverty for which charity was often the only, and usually totally inadequate, remedy. Sadly this is still the situation today for millions of people. However, there is a vast difference between times past and today. Today we have the technological capacity to eliminate it. Thus any failure to eliminate poverty can be seen as a failure to serve God and the essence of morality, incumbent on us all, is a duty to work for inclusive structural justice for all.

In the present world of conflict, such justice can be seen as the only concept capable of uniting people of faith, and of good faith, in an impelling cause – transcending cultural and political boundaries – for the betterment of humankind. To this end the CCMJ and its members are in dialogue with our Muslim brothers and sisters.

At recent conferences between Muslims and Christians we have started with a review of the Human Condition, and only then explored how our traditions do and do not contribute to inclusive justice. This has meant a closer adherence to proposals of intrinsic value, with less dependency on the particular descriptive language emerging from any one tradition. The clue to this search lies in Shakespeare’s perceptive quip – ‘A rose by any other name would smell as sweet’. The search for the sweet smell of inclusive justice should lead us into healthy dialogue.

The CCMJ began its existence in Scotland in the late 1950’s with a report produced in May 1962 by the Congregational Union of Scotland called “The Christian Doctrine of Wealth”. This aroused much public interest, was reprinted several times and finally emerged as “Money – A Christian View”. Through research, CCMJ believes that there are many important steps that can be taken to stop poverty increasing, to help people keep out of financial poverty, and make poverty history. If you want to know what these steps are, have a look at the pages on this web site: http://www.ccmj.org and at a companion site, http://www.globaljusticemovement.net

CCMJ believes that there are four ogres in the roots of all our great and growing dangers and dilemmas: – • an unquestioning acceptance of the economic status quo • a profound mal-distribution of land, assets and resources • an inordinate legal power given to corporations • a fraudulent, irreligious banking, money/credit debt system. CCMJ encourages people to explore for themselves the mystery of poverty in a world of actual and potential abundance, by dialogue, association and moral support,

What CCMJ members support to make poverty history includes: • a profound questioning of usury (interest) in contemporary society; • respect for real wealth – being life itself; • genuine investing in communities where risks and rewards are truly shared; • making all trade fair trade; • giving social and political priority to a living income for all; • developing interest free pension systems; • advocating open capital and asset-based financing; • proposing new ways of providing housing for all; • campaigning against privatisation of public assets; • working for democracy and localisation;

Join this open Christian exploration of effective change: If you would like to download the above information as a leaflet click here: LEAFLET.

To join CCMJ, please contact Rev Canon Peter Challen, Flat 12, Manormead, Tilford Road, Hindhead, Surrey, GU26 6RA, with information about your own projects or the reasons you are interested in the work of CCMJ – we welcome any opportunity you can create to raise the issues we pursue – and/or if you would like to use email, here is a link to our Contact Us form.

Christian Council for Monetary Justice • www.ccmj.org • info@ccmj.org • 01428 601512