Life before Death: A Galvanizing Slogan

I was meditating on the slogan of Christian Aid which is "life before death" because in class we've been discussing how organizations can use slogans to galvanize or unify their "followers". We have all seen great slogans in our time from Nike's "Just Do It" to M&M's famous "melts in your mouth not in your hands" to most recently President-elect Obama in his slogans of "hope" and "change", but what about Christan Aid's slogan. As I've thought about it more and more I view it as a great slogan. There is a pathos appeal, or emotional appeal, to the phrase. It makes the assumption that all people have the right to life and life abundantly. In my first blog post on Christian Aid I said it like this, " The main claim of Christian Aid is that the desire 'life before death'. Life before death is a motto that is derived from the desire to eradicate all poverty and injustice in the world. They long to give the poor and margnialized of the world hope and now a shadow of hope, but hope that is tangible. Tangible hope through the means of food, clean water, education, health care, and a chance at making an income".

However, now as I've studied more about their organization it's about so much more than that and truly is a rallying cry for their organization. They don't just fight to make things bearable for individuals, they fight to drastically improve lives through many avenues.

As a slogan it grips the heart of their "partners" who desire to give the marginalized and less fortunate of society hope and a brighter future. Deep within their soul each partner feels that their contribution, ranging from being on the front lines to just raising awareness, can make a lasting impact on the world.

What do you think about the slogan?

Multinational Companies Keeping Poor Countries in Poverty

Christian Aid has started a new campaign called The Big Tax Return that is designed to hold multinational companies accountable to the amount of money that is flowing through their business.

Christian Aid brings to life a startling statistic that multinational businesses are getting by with unpaid taxes somewhere in the realm of $160 billion dollars. Yes, you read correctly $160 billion dollars. While this is great for the companies as their wallets get fatter this is continuing to destroy the growth of impoverished countries struggling to just get the simple necessities. That money that should be going back into their countries infrastructure is floating around in some CEO's mansion and yacht.

Look at more statistics provided by Christian Aid on what $160 billion could do for a poor country:

• Enough to reach the UN millennium development goals several times over.
• Enough to save the lives of 350,000 children aged five or under every year.
• Almost twice the amount poor countries receive in international aid.

So instead of our global economy working to bring each other up apparently our businesses are doing there part to keep people down.

Christian Aid reports that at the UN in 2008 British prime minister, Gordon Brown, said we need 'a new global financial order, [founded on] transparency not opacity.' So that's exactly what Christian Aid is striving for.

They are attempting to mobilize their followers to send letters to their representatives asking for the following:

• support an international accounting standard on country-by-country reporting so that companies have to account for where the make their profits and how much tax they pay on them.
• to use its influence to encourage other world leaders to do the same.
• to help the world's poorest countries pay for schools, hospitals, and road.

What do you think about the tactic?

Square One: Christian Aid- fighting for a world free of poverty and injustice

The saying goes that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, so I guess you must start at square one before you can progress any further. The first plan of action is to define who Christian Aid is and what they do.

Christian Aid was founded in 1945 originally to offer relief and reconciliation for post-war Europe. Today it has evolved as an organization that focuses on international aid regardless of race or religion.

The main claim of Christian Aid is that the desire "life before death". Life before death is a motto that is derived from the desire to eradicate all poverty and injustice in the world. They long to give the poor and marginalized of the world hope and not a shadow of hope, but hope that is tangible. Tangible hope through the means of food, clean water, education, health care, and a chance at making an income.

While talking about Christian Aid it would be missing a crucial element of their organization if we didn't talk about their faith. The Christian Aid belief statement is as follows:

Christian Aid's work is founded on Christian faith and powered by hope. It acts to change an unjust world through charity, providing practical love and care for neighbors in need. It is driven by the gospel of good news to the poor, and inspired by the vision of a new Earth where everyone lives in justice, peace and plenty.

As one can see Christian Aid's faith is the driving element behind what they do. They desire to give of themselves because Jesus gave of himself. They actually believing in walking the walk and not just talking the talk.

Practically speaking Christian Aid desires to be an agent of change in this world. They have three practical aims which they define as:

1. To deliver real, practical benefits on the ground-they serve where the need is the greatest to end poverty and suffering. They strive for relief and long term development among nations with the greatest struggle.
2. To speak out when there is injustice- they speak out against the government, even at the peril of their own life, to bring about change for those in poverty.
3. To campaign for change-With nearly 100,000 campaigners and hundreds of thousands of supporters Christian Aid tells governments, companies and institutions what part they need to play in ending poverty.

So that's square one of Christian Aid and I will be looking forward to taking the next step with you all as we follow Christian Aid and their efforts to end poverty and injustice.