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MAHARISHI INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL
OF NATURAL LAW PARTIES
NEWS SERVICE
Markt 1 • 6063 AC Vlodrop • The Netherlands
Tel.: +31-475-404111 • Fax: +31-475-403642
Internet: http://www.natural-law-party.org
E-mail: nlp@euronet.nl
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19 December 1998
NLP
CONFERENCE PRESENTS CONVINCING CASE
AGAINST GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOODS
An
afternoon of impassioned and powerful speeches at the Maharishi
Golden
Dome in Skelmersdale, United Kingdom, left an audience of 300
people
convinced that the advent of genetically engineered foods poses
the greatest
risks ever known for human health and the environment.
This
public event, which was part of the annual conference of the
Natural
Law Party of the UK, also gave great hope that it is possible to
create an
agricultural system that is truly life-supporting and in accord
with Natural Law.
The
conference speakers - all of them leaders in their own fields -
gave a
clear understanding of the process of genetic modification, how
and why it
is being introduced so precipitously in agriculture today, and
why it is
imperative to use instead the natural alternatives which are so
readily
available.
A process fraught with enormous risks
With
the aid of charts and diagrams, leading geneticist Dr Michael
Antoniou
gave a clear explanation of how genetic engineering is done. He
showed that
it is a very crude and imprecise process and why it is fraught
with enormous
risks. He emphasised that it is completely different to
traditional
crossbreeding since it involves the transfer of genetic material
between
totally unrelated organisms.
"If
Nature has spent millions of years building a structure with
natural
boundaries, it must be there for a purpose," he said.
"It is there to guide
the evolution of life and to maintain its integrity. Using
genetic
engineering in agriculture is like trying to fix something that
has nothing
wrong with it in the first place."
Disrupting Nature's intelligence
Dr
Geoffrey Clements, a physicist and leader of the Natural Law
Party in the
U.K., said that genetic engineering disrupts the sequential flow
of Nature's
intelligence within an organism that maintains its health,
vitality, and
balance with the environment.
"It
is totally irresponsible for anyone to claim that there is either
precision in the technology, or precision in predicting whatever
the results
might be," Dr Clements said. "When scientists start
manipulating in this
indeterminate way the universal intelligence at the basis of all
life, then
we have to be in the right to raise alarm bells about it."
The right to choose what we eat
The
next speaker, Craig Sams, Chairman of Whole Earth Foods, said
that this
is not just a health and safety issue but also a human rights
issue. "It's
about our fundamental right to choose what we eat," he said.
"Genetic
engineering isn't about feeding the world, it's about making sure
the world buys it's food from the same handful of multinational
agrochemical
companies," Mr Sams said. He gave a very clear picture of
the economic
interests driving the introduction of genetically engineered
foods.
Mr
Sams praised the Natural Law Party for their key role in alerting
the
public to the dangers of genetically engineered foods - a move
that
galvanised many other groups into action.
Campaign to ban genetically engineered foods in 80 countries
Dr
Reinhard Borowitz, Secretary General of the Maharishi
International
Council of Natural Law Parties, pointed out that the introduction
of
genetically modified foods could destroy the balance of nature
that has
existed for millions of years and spoil the food of all mankind,
not just
now but for all generations to come.
He
said that the Natural Law Party is campaigning for a ban on
genetically
engineered foods in 80 countries. The most crucial aspect of this
campaign
is to promote programmes to create a more positive, integrated
collective
consciousness. "The best way to safeguard our future is to
apply Maharishi's
Vedic Technologies of Consciousness to eliminate stress in
society and bring
life everywhere spontaneously in alliance with Natural Law. This
is the most
important factor in raising the appreciation of the public for
natural and
healthy food."
The primary responsibility of every farmer
Concluding
the discussion, Patrick Holden, Director of the Soil Association,
the organisation that upholds organic standards in the UK, said:
"After 50
years of industrialisation of agriculture, it is now the primary
responsibility of every farmer to base the way in which they
produce food on
the principle of promoting health and not disease." He
pointed out that
natural organic agriculture can achieve amazing yields.
"There
is overwhelming public opposition to genetically engineered
foods,"
he said. "Once people know about the issues they are
instinctively deeply
opposed to it. The Soil Association is committed to a moratorium,
followed
by a ban. When this is done in the UK it will send ripples right
around the
planet."
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