Action Alert - Brethren Action Alert

Action Alert
Brethren Witness/Washington Office

from NCC- The National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Programs is sponsoring a photo contest—On God's Wild Land. Share with us a photo and your experiences working on, volunteering, or enjoying public lands and God's creation. We will select a winner to receive a gift certificate from Patagonia. Contest Deadline: Friday, October 31, 2007. Please visit http://www.nccecojustice.org/godswildland.html for details. To learn more about wilderness issues and the value to our Christian faith, download our education resource Out of the Wilderness: Building Christian Faith and Keeping God's Creation. (www.nccecojustice.org/wildbounce.html)

Many people of faith have powerful experiences with God in wild lands. Wilderness was the place where Moses was called, where the Israelites gained their freedom and religious identity, and where prophets encountered God. John the Baptist and Jesus also both relied on wilderness retreats throughout their ministries. God instructed Job to stop and consider God’s wonders (Job 37:14). Share with us some of your own experiences through photographs.

The National Council of Churches, united with diverse religious groups from across the United States, has planned a huge interfaith event meant to unite people of different faiths in common opposition to war, and in common pursuit of peace. Local communities are asked to show their support, by contacting their local political representatives and fasting on October 8th. In larger cities, such as New York and Chicago, people are also being asked to gather in public for vigils and prayer.

The event, which aims to move our nation from “conquest to community; from violence to reverence,” is planned to coincide with the month of Ramadan, during which Muslims already commit to fasting. It is also planned to fall among Sukkot and the High Holy Days of the Jewish faith, as well as Pavarana / Sangha Day of Buddhist tradition. Numerous leaders of Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, and Christian faith have already pledged their support and the support of their congregations. The fast has been announced by the Associate General Secretary for Interfaith Relations of the National Council of Churches, Shanta Premawardhana. To get involved, visit Shanta Premawardhana's blog and leave a comment pledging your support, or email him at shanta@ncccusa.org. (For more information, visit www.ncccusa.org/news/070926callforfast.html)

The central event of the 2007 Sabbath year will be the 40-day Cancel Debt Fast from September 6th to October 16th calling for debt cancellation and an end to global poverty.

Individuals, congregations, and local organizations can participate in the Cancel Debt Fast by committing to fast for a day or more and on the same day to contact or meet with their Member of Congress, asking the congressperson to support the JUBILEE Act as well as just trade and poverty-focused development assistance to fight global poverty. On any given day during the 40-day Cancel Debt Fast, debt cancellation advocates across the United States and around the world will be engaging in this powerful act of solidarity with those who are bound by the chains of unjust and oppressive debts.

In March of 1999, the Church of the Brethren General Board issued a statement reading, in part, “As many poorer nations struggle to repay enormous international debts, it is the poor citizens of those nations who pay much of the price for these repayments. Already inadequate social services are further reduced. Industries and agricultural land that might have provided commodities for domestic consumption are redirected to produce export crops and products. Environmental quality is degraded, as regulations are relaxed as an incentive to economic growth, and as marginal and untouched lands are forced into production to earn export revenues. Ironically, poor people have seen little of the benefit of the loans that have brought them great hardship. While some funds financed the construction of large infrastructure projects that may have marginally helped the poor, other monies went to military procurement or were siphoned off by corrupt politicians and businesses.” The statement went on to call for debt cancellation as part of the Jubilee 2000 campaign. It is time to renew that call. Find more info at: http://www.jubileeusa.org/canceldebtfast.html

The Jubilee USA National Lobby Day for debt cancellation will be held October 17 in Washington, DC. We ask that participants set up meetings with their Senators and Representative on this day to express their support for the Jubilee Act. Jubilee USA can provide assistance in scheduling these meetings upon request.(http://www.jubileeusa.org/canceldebtfast/07tld.html)

"If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all" (Romans 12:18).

Three Church of the Brethren representatives were among some 140 Christian leaders who met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York this morning, Sept. 26, at the Tillman Chapel at the Church Center for the United Nations. (MORE>>)

5. BBT urges Brethren to take immediate action against proposed rules that would squelch the voice of minority shareholders

Sept. 26, 2007, Elgin, Ill. Brethren Benefit Trust is asking its members and those who uphold the values of the Church of the Brethren to publicly oppose proposed rule changes by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that, if implemented, would render the voice of minority shareholders silent.

Such action will only take five minutes, but needs to be done no later than Oct. 2.

The SEC currently is holding a 60-day open comment period for feedback on several proposals related to shareholders. If implemented, these proposals would severely limit the capabilities of minority investors to sponsor shareholder resolutions by eliminating non-binding resolutions, by allowing companies to opt out of receiving shareholder resolutions, or by doubling the current voting percentages needed by resolutions to be allowed to be re-filed with the same companies the following year. The proposed changes would also limit or eliminate the ability of shareholders to nominate members of corporate boards.

Over the past 35 years, 95 percent of shareholder resolutions filed have been non-binding, in an attempt to give shareholders the ability to advise companies on shareholder sentiment. Such resolutions do not force companies to run at the whim of their shareholders; rather, they allow shareholders to address a number of critical issues, such as non-responsive corporate boards, a history of pollution and/or inaction on climate change, a history of racial- or gender-based lawsuits, failure to recognize indigenous peoples rights, and other issues of sustainability.

Faith-based investors, such as BBT, are nearly always minority investors. And yet the voice of faith-based investors is important. Early this year, a proposed resolution submitted to Aflac that pertained to executive compensation, which was filed by Boston Common Asset Management using BBT’s shares in the firm, prompted the company to agree to giving shareholders a non-binding vote on executive compensation. The initiative, which included Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) members petitioning 50 Fortune 500 companies, proved to be a success. Not only did Aflac become the first major company in the United States to agree to give its shareholders such a vote, similar resolutions with other companies also garnered a good percentage of votes.

Sometimes resolutions can fail but yet ultimately help lead to the desired outcome. In 2002, 2003, and 2004, BBT filed a shareholder resolution with Yum! Brands asking the firm to ban smoking in its corporately owned KFC, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver’s, and A&W restaurants. Each year the resolution received enough votes to be allowed to return for up to three years, but not enough to receive approval. In 2005, the year the resolution no longer was allowed to be returned to the company, Yum! announced that it was banning smoking in all of its corporately owned restaurants, stating, “In our opinion, going smoke-free is simply the right thing to do.”

“Although the Church of the Brethren and other faith-based investors are small in voice, the impact our organizations have had in effecting change in corporate board rooms over the past 35 years has been remarkable,” said Nevin Dulabaum, BBT’s interim director of Socially Responsible Investing. “Demanding that companies be good corporate citizens through fair treatment of all employees, safe and prudent environmental practices, and respect for indigenous peoples is in keeping with the values of the Church and are rights that we believe should not be eliminated from shareholders.

BBT staff, which learned of the SEC comment period last week during the ICCR’s fall meetings, would like to encourage its individual and organizational members and others who uphold the values of the Church of the Brethren to send letters to the SEC and to members of Congress, asking that the SEC not adopt any of its proposed changes.

ICCR and the Social Investment Forum has established www.saveshareholderrights.org to allow organizations and individuals to quickly send such letters.

It will only take five minutes. However, the comment period ends on Oct. 2, and so action must be taken immediately.

Log onto www.saveshareholderrights.org. There are a number of links that lead to additional resources that further explain the issue, as well as links for organizations and individuals to have letters sent to the SEC and to Congress. Fill out the contact information form and click on the “send e-mail” link and your voice will be heard.

Brethren Benefit Trust manages $435 million for more than 5,000 Church of the Brethren Pension Plan and Insurance members and Brethren Foundation clients. All of these funds are invested in a socially responsible manner, with investment screens and activist initiatives guided by Church of the Brethren Annual Conference statements and resolutions.

If you have questions on these or other issues, contact the Brethren Witness/Washington Office at the address below. We would love to hear from you!

Brethren Witness/Washington Office Action Alerts are sent out as important issues arise. Forward this alert to others! To add an e-mail address to our list, contact us at:

Brethren Witness/Washington Office
337 North Carolina Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20003
Local Phone: 202-546-3202
Toll Free: 1-800-785-3246
Fax: 202-544-5852
E-mail: washington_office_gb@brethren.org

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