Europe News

Beer in clear, not so for liquor on stock ticker, says church group

Oct 5, 2011, 15:59 GMT

Berlin - If you want to be a good Christian while investing your money, avoid businesses that trade in hard liquor, pornography and weapons, advised a German church group Wednesday.

However, this being Germany - the home of Riesling wine and the Oktoberfest - that advice was qualified with the note that hard liquor only starts when a beverage has 15 per cent or more alcohol by volume, a level seldom reached by beer and wine.

Thus, investments in beer and vineyards are acceptable, from a religious perspective.

'The limit in the criteria marks the point where you cross over from alcoholic drinks like beer and wine (between 3 and 14 per cent) and spirits (15-80 per cent),' read the report from the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Germany's main Protestant grouping.

The report notes that drinking beverages with higher alcohol contents increases the chances of addiction.

The advice comes from a committee put together by the EKD to help following the financial tumult of the last few years.

'People trust their money to the church, to allow church work to continue,' read the report. 'In the evangelical church, that means the church's handling of money plays a role in its responsibility to God and people.'

Many of the taboo investments are obvious, from a church perspective. Christian investors are also urged to avoid putting their money into countries that are not active in efforts to fight global warming, allow the death penalty or are classified as 'not free' by human rights organizations.