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Signor
12-11-2013, 09:14 AM
The Church of England has invested up to £10m in one of the world's major arms firms, which supplies systems and technology for unmanned drones and jets to conflicts around the world. The discovery, on the eve of what is set to be the biggest day of protests against DSEi – the UK's leading arms fair – in Docklands, London, tomorrow, has led worshippers to accuse church leaders of profiting from conflict.



The Church Commissioners and Church of England Pensions Board are both shareholders in General Electric (GE), with shareholdings up to £10m. Yesterday, the Church defended the investment, claiming less than 3 per cent of GE's business was based in arms sales.
But the firm, along with its key subsidiary General Aviation, is a leading supplier of "integrated systems and technologies" for combat aircraft, military transport, helicopters, land vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles – better known as drones.


It is the 20th-highest-ranking firm in the world when it comes to defence sales, which accounted for almost 3 per cent of its total revenue last year – an estimated $4bn.


GE also makes the F101 aircraft, which took part in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. Designed as a "strategic nuclear bomber", it was modified to carry a "diverse range of conventional weapons", according to GE's website.


While the Church of England is not breaching its own rules by investing in the firm – investments in companies that derive less than 10 per cent of turnover from strategic military sales are allowed – some church members reacted angrily to the news.


Keith Hebden, an Anglican priest who was arrested earlier this year for breaking into RAF Waddington – from where drones used in Afghanistan are remotely controlled – said the Church of England's policy was wrong. He explained: "We're going to end up with problems. This means we have a stake in wanting there to be war."


Symon Hill, co-founder of the anti-cuts campaign group Christianity Uncut, said: "Investments in GE conform to the letter but not the spirit of the Church of England's investment policy."


A Church spokeswoman pointed out that GE produces dishwashers, lighting, aircraft engines and power plants. She added: "Some of GE's engines and other products are supplied for military planes, boats and land vehicles. Our research provider estimates that less than 3 per cent of GE's turnover comes from strategic military supplies."


The Campaign Against Arms Trade added: "GE is undoubtedly an arms company – why else would it be exhibiting its wares at one of the world's largest arms fairs? If the Church is committed to following an ethical investment policy, it should drop the GE shares from its portfolio and invest it in companies producing more ethical and beneficial products, including renewable energy technologies."


Today's revelations come months after the Church admitted it invested in funds that provided money for the Wonga payday loans company. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, had previously said he would try to force the firm out of business by helping credit unions compete with it. He wanted the Church's investment rules to be reviewed following the row.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...m-8803469.html
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Insaanah
12-11-2013, 10:02 PM
The church is not the only one unfortunately. In the last couple of days it's emerged that Comic Relief (an annual charity event in the UK, with big TV coverage, and celebrity involvement, which raises millions of £s from viewers each year for worthy causes), has invested in arms companies, tobacco and alcohol companies.

Millions of pounds donated to Comic Relief have been invested in funds with shares in tobacco, alcohol and arms firms, BBC Panorama has learned.
Despite its mission statement claiming it is committed to helping "people affected by conflict", in 2009 the charity had £630,000 invested in shares in weapons firm BAE Systems.

Comic Relief also had more than £300,000 invested in shares in the alcohol industry despite its mission statement saying it is "working to reduce alcohol misuse and minimise alcohol related harm".

The majority was invested in Diageo, which manufactures dozens of alcoholic drinks and was criticised by the Health Select Committee in 2009 for exploiting weaknesses in the regulation of alcohol advertising.

Comic Relief also appeals for money to fight tuberculosis and has given over £300,000 to a charity called Target Tuberculosis.

Target TB believes that smoking may be responsible for over 20% of TB cases worldwide.

While raising funds in 2009, nearly £3m of Comic Relief money was invested in shares in tobacco companies.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25273024
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glo
12-12-2013, 04:37 AM
From what I understand the investment system is very obscure and it is almost impossible to invest your money truly 'ethically'. Because the investment company you choose may look ethical on the surface, but so many investments further down the line are intertwined and connected with each other, that it is almost impossible to tell where exactly the money goes.

I think neither the CofE nor Comic Relief set out to 'make money out of arms firms', but to uphold their reputations they should try and find safer ways of investing their money. I don't know about Comic Relief, but the CofE has an Ethical Investment Committee and try to invest ethically. Perhaps they need to review their policy or try a bit harder, or perhaps the whole investment system needs to be scrutinised.
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Independent
12-12-2013, 10:10 AM
format_quote Originally Posted by glo
From what I understand the investment system is very obscure and it is almost impossible to invest your money truly 'ethically'
Absolutely. If you invest through a fund manager (and most institutions do) you end up with a highly complicated mix of companies which changes all the time. There are ethical funds which follow certain criteria, but if you get too purist you end up with a seriously underperforming investment. COE are not the first institution to find themselves caught in this way and they won't be the last.

If GE's defense arm represents just 3% of their trade, that's way under the COE's own 10% rule. The problem is the rule. If they want zero, they should say zero.
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Prayer4life
12-13-2013, 02:27 AM
This is what happens when you make money your god and religion.
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glo
12-13-2013, 05:40 AM
^
I might agree in principle, but in reality it is a bit more complicated than that.

The CofE is in a strange situation in the sense that it is pretty much a 'state church' within a now very secular society. Dotted up and down the country are some 16,000 parish churches and 42 cathedrals - some very old and all in need of maintenance. And then there are active and retired clergy who all need paying, housing and/or a pension.

Many of the congregations are not large enough anymore to pay the cost of all this - and yet there are old laws which cannot (or are not) changed.
I was talking to a clergy friend recently and she told me that the CofE parishes are not allowed to sell church buildings to raise money. Because in some way the building is not considered to 'belong' to the church, the bishop or anybody like that ... but to the parish and the community. So even if the building was neither used nor wanted - it is there to stay.

I was on our local parish council for a while and although our congregation is thriving and our church building is not too bad (and less that 200 years old) - we often thought how much more we could do if we didn't have the constant cost of maintaining and repairing an old building - nice as it is.
On top of our usual religious activities and services we run a Foodbank and a Winter nightshelter for homeless sleepers, we provide free breakfast on Saturdays and run coffee clubs for the elderly and after-school clubs for school children. If we had more cash, we could do more!

Still, I have a soft spot for the CofE and the role it sees itself as having within this nation and each community ...
I don't think it is necessarily any less spiritually driven for having such political and financial dealings ... but it can be a distraction from the simple worship of God. :hmm:
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