Below is a
summary of a paper delivered by Francis Wilson at a symposium on the relevance
of the Church in the 21st Century held under the auspices of the
United Church of Zambia on the occasion of its Diamond Jubilee, in Lusaka in
January 2015. Although pointing to Central and Southern Africa in general and
Zambia in particular it is not without relevance to the Scottish Church either.
For Wilson the calling of the Christian church is to think
theologically about society, economics and politics. It has an obligation to seek to shape society
for the common good against social evils. It is part of our ecumenical inheritance,
a truth shared by all the great denominations, whether Reformed, Anglican or
Roman Catholic.
There is a need to recognise the importance of values
in shaping an economy. The market is a tool not a value and there
are times when the forces of the market have to yield to higher moral
values. Christians opposed slavery as
being inconsistent with the Christian understanding of human worth. As the
market is generally a-moral, moral values are fundamentally important in
shaping any economy and the market is a tool which can be used for good or ill.
Many of the values underpinning the present global economy
are fundamentally unchristian. The emphasis always is on material things and
consumerism the necessity of earning more money to satisfy greed no matter how
rich one is.
Christian values emphasise the ultimate worth of every
individual no matter what they believe; what their position in society; how
poor or rich they may be. The church believes in the importance of community and
pushes for an ever more compassionate and caring society.
In a
society with too great a degree of inequality, human community is impossible
and Christians need to be very concerned about high levels of inequality in any
society. What is the situation in Zambia? Does the church care? What do we,
what do you, propose to do about it?
Another concern is the nature of poverty. This has many
faces. But a country’s average per capita income can give one some idea as to
the general well-being of the county. So Zambia with a per capita income in
2013 of $2990 is poorer than Botswana with a per capita income of $14 630
although better off than Zimbabwe with a per capita income of $1570.
In Zambia it is estimated that some 73% live below the
poverty line but these figures are only guidelines. They tell us nothing about
the nature or the causes of poverty, nor of the poverty endured by individual
persons or their households. Nor indeed do the figures tell us anything about
the distribution of income in the country concerned. There are many painful
faces of poverty in the country: infant mortality, destitute old people, and
unemployed young people feeling worthless and with no aim in life. Is the Church thinking strategically and
creatively about this? How does the church help people to acquire the tools - including
personal courage, endurance & imagination - to improve the quality of life
even if per capita income does not lift dramatically?
Zambia has been part of the modern globalisation process for
more than a century with the discovery and exploitation of copper for the world
market. In Zambia there are seven different types of multinationals. They
include:
·
Mining or Extractive such as Copper and Coal
·
Consumer Goods including food, clothing,
appliances, furniture etc
·
Media & Communications - TV; Films; Cell
Phones; Internet
·
Transport - Garages; Car Hire; Petrol
·
Agriculture - Equipment; Seeds; Fertilizer;
Products
·
Energy - Electricity and Oil
·
Banking - Global financial network
Wilson focuses on what he calls the three Ms
·
Mining
·
McDonalds
·
Media
Mining
in Zambia immediately raises at least two value issues which need to be
considered critically by the churches. Whose mineral resources? Much of the Zambia’s mineral wealth has been
siphoned out of the country especially when demand for copper was especially
high.
In contrast, in Botswana mining companies earn agreed,
reasonable, profits on diamonds whilst the bulk of the wealth stays in the
country.
In Angola for example, the vast wealth accruing to the
country from its oil seems, alas, to be destined to enriching the pockets of a
few rather than improving the lives of the citizens. Contrast this with Norway
where much of the oil wealth has been placed in a “Sovereign Fund” which now
has investments around the world to be used in future for the well-being of all
the people of Norway. In this context it is perhaps worth pointing out the
crucial role of the church over the previous century in helping to create the
political conditions and the institutions which enabled Norway to respond so
wisely to the oil discoveries.
The migrant labour system is another issue: a huge source of
social destruction in Southern Africa and a major factor in the spread of
catastrophic levels of HIV/AIDS throughout the region. It serves to generate poverty in the rural
areas where the migrants come from. Decent family housing for all migrants and
their families near their place of work is necessary, with workers treated as
people with families rather than as labour units from which energy is to be
extracted.
There are many multinational retail chains operating in
Zambia selling such items as food, furniture, clothing and electronic
equipment. Trade is of course, generally, of benefit to both sides but in any
such transaction the terms of trade need to be examined with some care
and here the churches could play an important role by asking some pertinent
questions. For example, are the multinational retail firms doing more than
training Zambian till-assistants? Is the retail sector in Zambia being educated
and given the necessary experience for full global partnership employing senior
Zambian managers and decision makers? Are Zambians being empowered within Zambia?
Who is running the show? Or are the retail outlets in the country merely colonies
used primarily to extract wealth for the imperial headquarters based in
America, Europe or Asia?
Another theological dimension is the dichotomy between
passive consumption and active production. “Couch potatoes”, people who may
spend many hours each day passively and uncritically watching their television screens
with the danger of consumerism replacing all manner of activities which used to
be taken for granted.
The development of cell-phones and the internet is having a
radical impact on communication particularly in Africa. The isolation of the
past is being replaced, seemingly in the twinkling of any eye, by the global
village. What are the consequences of such a revolutionary technology likely to
be? How does the church help people to adjust to the new realities in ways that
are human, caring and just for all?
1.
While multinationals are not all bad. They bring
with them global linkages and new ideas, organisational efficiency and some
sense of corporate social responsibility but some aspect require critical
assessment by the church;
a.
Multinationals are essentially driven by
profits. While necessary considerations also need to be given to of human value
and of the ethical goals that give real meaning to life.
b.
Multinationals create wealth but at a cost. Mining companies’ migrant labour system is
highly destructive and impoverishes areas from which the migrants came. To say
nothing of the work-related injuries and diseases.
c.
Multinationals tend to create elites earning
incomes far above those of the general working population and are part of the
process of the widening inequality .This
needs to be reversed if the world is not
to disintegrate due to lack of human solidarity.
A strong legal framework backed by honest and alert officials
multinationals can prevent multinationals from robbing a country and its people
of their rightful resources.
d.
The creation of dependency on multinationals
fails to provide local business leaders with the knowledge and experience to be
real partners in management and decision making.
Care for the Environment provides to mitigate climate change
by facilitating the planting of trees by farmers needs to be scaled up.
The Church should continue with compassion and caring
ministries, nurturing imaginative initiatives to deal with society’s, helping
government to formulate better policy and criticising prophetically where
government falls short.
Wilson concludes that in response a representative Zambian
Church Commission might reflect theologically on the challenges facing the
church both in terms of Faith & Order and its Life & Work modelled on
the 1933 but focusing on Abundant Life, and of Ubuntu now and in the future.
