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Through worship, Israel develops the fortitude to bring about and to live out what God has promised. Liturgy and life stand in continuity with one another. In Psalm 149 however, remembrance of the exodus leads to a determination to subdue any who would stand in the way of that promise. With "high praises of God" in their throats and a "two-edged sword in their hands," the Israelites are prepared to "bind their kings with fetters and their nobles with chains of iron, to execute on them the judgment decreed" (vv 7-9).
Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann insists, however, that the public action proposed by this psalm is not random violence but is
...precisely against kings and merchant-lords. That is, it is action aimed against those who control a social monopoly and who thereby deny and deprive others of their legitimate goods for life. The worship of the God of the exodus leads to energy and imagination for the righting of social wrong rooted in monopoly and oppression. The psalm is a harsh one; it is nonetheless clear evidence, placed near the liturgical climax of the Psalter, that praise is deeply and directly linked to serious and critical public policy and public practice. And if this psalm turns out to be too dangerous to sing in our more bourgeois liturgies, then we may want to consider how such liturgy becomes innocuous and cuts God off from God's deeply rooted social intention. (The Psalms and The Life of Faith, Walter Brueggeman, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, p. 125).
The boycott of Taco Bell was a specifically targeted non-violent action, initiated by farmworkers who were being deprived of their "legitimate goods for life." Giant corporate food purchasers, like Yum (Taco Bell's parent company), Walmart, and McDonald's, actually have a hand in keeping wages low through the enormous pressure they exert on their suppliers for low cost tomatoes. The good news is that Taco Bell responded in March of 2005, and has become a partner with the CIW in establishing industry-wide practices that will ensure that workers who pick tomatoes have fair wages and just working conditions.
[Learn more: Details on the agreement]
The Campaign for Fair Food endeavors to build upon the precedents for human rights and corporate responsibility established in the CIW-Taco Bell agreement. It encourages other major buyers to study these precedent-setting principles in the agreement and to sit down with the CIW to discuss how they can implement these principles in their own supply chains.
[Learn more: Sample letters and background information]
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) teaches that
the doctrine of creation affirms that material things are given for all humankind to enjoy.The prophets affirmed this by their insistence that defense of the poor and vulnerable was the obligation especially of the rich and powerful. God's good creation is not given just for the privileged few. It is for all people to share and to enjoy. All are to have fair access. And future generations are to have their fair share as well. (Christian Faith and Economic Justice, 196th General Assembly, 1984, para. 29.084).
The PC(USA)'s support for the ongoing Campaign for Fair Food derives from our praise of God who has created enough for all people and intends creation to flourish.
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