This morning's reading from Mark 10 tells us Jesus' conversation with the rich young man who wanted to follow him. In the course of the conversation Jesus runs through the 10 commandments with the man, but appears to add an extra one - "Do not defraud". The rich defrauding the poor was something very prevalent in Jesus' time (as in ours too) and was clearly of concern to Jesus - and so is still so today.
Did you know that US $ 160 bn (£ 100 bn) every year is denied in tax revenue to developing countries due to tax avoidance by multinational corporations ? Christian Aid's Trace the Tax campaign seeks to challenge the financial secrecy that is preventing poor countries from collecting the taxes they are due.
The current campaign seeks two specific measures:
- Firstly companies to report on the profits they make and taxes they pay in every country in which they operate
- Secondly, tax havens to automatically share information \bout the money flowing through them with all other countries
This week's TFG focused on this issue, using information that you can find online at the Christian Aid website
If you would like to sign Christian Aid's online petition urging the Prime Minister to support the two measures mentioned above, click here (Add your Tick for Tax Justice).
If you were not at TFG or have friends or neighbours who are interested in supporting Chrisrtian Aid's campaign, the tax bus is visiting the area over the w/e of September 15 and 16 (see below) with information and an opprtunity to give our support to the campaign.
Peter King
Saturday 15 September
7.30pm-9pm:
St Richard's Church, Priory Road, Eastbourne, BN23 7AX
Cheese and wine will be served
Cheese and wine will be served
Sunday 16 September
9am-11.30am:
St Barnabas Church, Sea Road, Bexhill-on-sea, TN40 1JG
Breakfast will be served
Breakfast will be served
