Chairman's introduction: Archived 4/9/2005

Dear Friends
Welcome to the Christian Council for Monetary Justice web site.
Many current reports speak of our love affair with debt, others speak of the debt time-bomb. The slightly cynical reference could be to personal debt, corporate debt, national debt or international debt. We contend that debt and its insidious concomitant, compound interest, are the fundamental issues in society today. They lead to many other grave distortions in our human communities everywhere. In the Epiphany season, the making manifest of the significance of the Christ event, our renewed intent to tackle debt is an underlying theme in the pursuit of inclusive justice.

The CCMJ has been warning against escalating debt for 45 years. We base our concerns on research showing that our monetary system is grievously distorted. Inclusive justice, never very extensive, is further off than ever for the majority of people on the planet. In the spirit of the faith we hold, we are, therefore, dedicated to the eradication of usury, masquerading as interest.

Interest permeates the complex structures of the financial systems upon which our way of life and death depend today. Believing that justice is the social form of love, we contend that the way to inclusive economic justice is simple. Only reluctance to recognise the problem and the difficulty of generating political will to effect change stand in our way of achieving it.

So we invite you to join us in the task of education, constructive proposition and both incremental and radical action. CCMJ will provide research, apposite reading, supportive evidence and consultation. Expect to access through our members and our links ways of pursuing such themes as: —
• Interest is unnecessary.
• To end inflation and create wealth, State determined issuance of interest-free (repayable and in most circumstances cancellable) money for investment in: — a) public capital projects, b) private capital projects (if wide participation is involved and to create an element of basic income), c) "green" technology , d) small businesses.
• In a counter-inflationary situation, debt-free money spent into the economy to keep a stable level of prices and to provide another element of basic income.

Among members and associates other starting points for an effective way forward in areas appropriate to their insights and opportunites, are explored, such as: — • Universal basic income • Universal capital ownership • Tax Justice - abolitioning tax havens • Land Rents • New forms of Open Capital • Simultaneous Policy for adopting co-operation as the ordinate motivation of enterprise • People's Pensions • Student Debt • Tobin Tax • Interest limits • Earnings limits • Financial regulations • Ethical Investment • Barter • Community Currencies • Time Banks - all these are pursued as if people and sustainability mattered.

Browse within to find the pages that take you to the next step you seek. Join us and help us to rectify the insidious distortions in our way of life, generated by usurious money creation -
Canon Peter Challen - Chairman