resolution

Create a Worldwide Peace Economy

2016 Book of Resolutions, #4062

The United Methodist Church supports a Peace Economy for every country on planet earth.

We recognize as the Honorable Dwight D. Eisenhower stated,

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.

… This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.”

We remember the prophecy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “When a nation continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift, it is approaching spiritual death.”

We understand the preaching of this truth by Jesus, who is called the Prince of Peace, “… all those who use the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52b).

Therefore,

  1. We call upon world leaders to order a thorough review of weapons systems and other military spending programs with the objective of bringing about at least a 25 percent reduction in financial expenditures and the number of armed forces without cuts that harm veterans and their families.

  2. We call upon world leaders to reinvest those financial resources, which derive from taxes and borrowing, in societal improvement programs such as food security, health care, clean energy, housing, education, and the development of infrastructure.

  3. We call upon the leaders of our congregations such as lay leaders to advocate for such a Peace Economy as they lead their congregations.

  4. We call upon congregations to network with local peace, environmental, health care, educators, and other groups to lobby their local and national leaders to create a Peace Economy.

ADOPTED 2012
RESOLUTION #4062, 2012 BOOK OF RESOLUTIONS

See Social Principles, ¶ 163.

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Copyright © 2016, The United Methodist Publishing House, used by permission