"Double Lives"
"Moral Disengagement"
This entry
continues the call to the international church-mission community (CMC) to
practice the highest standards of transparency and accountability. It
calls upon people to acknowledge their own propensity for acting deceptively (corruption) as well as their own capacity for acting truthfully (integrity). It also calls upon people to rally behind the current governmental-civil society efforts to confront and halt corruption, such as the recent Global Declaration Against Corruption (Anti-Corruption Summit, London 2016). Here is a summary excerpt:
“Corruption is at the
heart of so many of the world’s problems. We must overcome it, if our efforts
to end poverty, promote prosperity and defeat terrorism and extremism are to
succeed. Today’s Summit has demonstrated the deep commitment of a significant
number of countries, businesses and members of civil society to work together
to tackle this scourge. To do this we will build on and implement existing
international agreements – but also go much further, making this a top priority
at home and abroad and building capacity to tackle the problem. We commit to
expose corruption wherever it is found, to pursue and punish those who
perpetrate, facilitate or are complicit in it, to support the communities who
have suffered from it, and to ensure it does not fester in our government
institutions, businesses and communities. We will fulfil our shared commitment
to ‘substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms’ [as stated
in Sustainable Development Goal 16]. “
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New Resources
Pope Francis:
The Name of
God is Mercy (2016).
"Corruption is the sin
which, rather than being recognized as such and rendering us humble, is
elevated to a system; it becomes a mental habit, a way of living. We no longer
feel the need for forgiveness and mercy, but we justify ourselves and our
behaviors. Jesus says to his disciples: Even if your brother offends you seven
times a day, and seven times a day he returns
to you to ask for forgiveness, forgive him. The repentant sinner, who sins
again and again because of his weakness, will find forgiveness if he
acknowledges his need for mercy. The corrupt man is the one who sins but does
not repent, who sins and pretends to be Christian, and it is this double life
that is scandalous. The corrupt
man does not know humility, he does not
consider himself in need of help, he leads a double life."(excerpt from chapter 7: "Sinners Yes, Corrupt No"; p. 77).
“How do
otherwise considerate human beings do cruel things and still live in peace with
themselves?...They do so by sanctifying their harmful behavior as serving
worthy causes; they absolve themselves of blame for the harm they cause by
displacement and diffusion of responsibility; they minimize or deny the harmful
effects of their actions; and they dehumanize those they maltreat and blame them
for bringing the suffering on themselves. (excerpt from Amazon website). Click HERE
for a book review from PsycCRITIQUES
(APA). “For me, it would be hard to find a book of more contemporary relevance…if
we are seriously committed to understanding the confusing world in which we
live. If you read it and find you better understand how other people can do
such bad things and lived with them, you will have profited from the book. But
if you read it and find as well that you better understand how you have done
some bad things and lived with what you have done, you will truly understand
the message of the book.” (excerpt from book review)
NCI
Update
W alk as children of light. (Eph. 5: 8)
We
are not aware of any further action undertaken by organizations to investigate and disclose how they may have been affected by NCI. Click here to see the latest update of the paper trail: (August 2014--current).
The NCI KB fraud is not over. It is not forgotten. It is not going away.
People are still being defrauded--by the complicity of silence.
The church-mission community is shamed. (2 Cor. 4:2)
God's name is blasphemed. (Rms. 2:24)
God's name is blasphemed. (Rms. 2:24)
If there is nothing to hide, then we can speak up. Demonstrate it.
If something is being hidden, then we can speak up. Disclose it.
.
It has been nearly nine years since the NCI fraud began to be publically confronted (2007). It has also been nearly 20 months since four of the organizations included in the Shine the Light-Together petition and several of their leaders were formally presented with the
petition. Leaders in Youth With a Mission, Mercy Ships, Youth For Christ, and Crossroads Church received separate email-letters in August 2014 regarding the petition with the names and comments of 100+ people who signed it. We thus continue the resolute, public call a) for
assistance from all those affected in various ways by the NCI fraud; and b) for verifiable
disclosures/independent reviews (transparency and accountability) by four
of the organisations listed in the petition.
.
The organizations and people affected by NCI in various ways can call for and
authorize independent reviews. It is not too late to model good financial
practice and integrity, for one’s own sake and for the sake of the church-mission community
and the general public. None of us need to live a double life--a morally disengaged life. Speak up.
