As a young person, I was always enthralled by art, history, religion, philosophy, and psychology. While I was born a reformer—driven by a deep instinct and hunger to understand how systems, policies, and the social mechanics of society worked—I also ventured deeply into humanity, culture, and the fundamental questions of what makes people tick and how. Instead of winning my school’s annual academic excellence prize, I was awarded prizes for service to the community. In 1995, at the age of eighteen, I was named my county’s Young Citizen of the Year for my contributions to both local and international volunteer work. A moral code of service and compassion guided me, balancing heart with action.

I spent every lunchtime during my last two years of high school in the careers library, poring over university prospectuses, exploring every field of study I could imagine. I applied to three universities, as was the convention, only to cancel my applications just before my exams, knowing I wanted to take a year out to travel and work with the street-poor in India. That’s a whole different story, but upon my return—having experienced a profound spiritual awakening through service, working at a Mother Teresa home, and later setting up an education project for “untouchable” children in a village outside Agra—I felt called to study Religion and Theology at the University of Kent at Canterbury.

Curiously, this course was the very first one that had caught my eye in the careers library on the advent of my search. Why? Because I had come to understand that if I could grasp what people believed, I could communicate with them directly and deeply, understanding the very foundation upon which their worldview—and therefore their world—was built.

During the period between returning from India and starting university, I volunteered at the Green Party headquarters in London, hoping to learn more about politics. I didn’t. I was put in a room to stuff envelopes and lick stamps. But life has a way of illuminating your path in the most roundabout ways. While I was there, the office received a fax announcing a seminar across town that afternoon. I jumped at the chance to escape the little dark room, embracing the opportunity to meet new people and engage with new ideas.

It was at this seminar at the Friends Meeting House in Euston that I met Peter. He and his friend John Courtneidge, who ran the Campaign for Interest-Free Money, were hosting a gentleman from South Africa who had recently founded the “Abolish Income Tax and Usury Party.”

I remember my immediate reaction upon hearing the title: “Does this person not understand how income tax works and its importance to society? How ignorant.” And with my own arrogance—alongside my complete ignorance of what usury even was—I walked through those doors, unaware that my life’s path was about to change forever.

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A Lifelong Lesson in Moral Economy

Usury, as I soon learned, is the practice of charging excessively high interest rates on loans—rates that exceed what is considered fair or reasonable by law or ethical standards. Historically, the term described any interest on loans, but over time, it came to refer specifically to exploitative or exorbitant rates. The seminar, however, delved much deeper, exposing the mechanisms by which modern financial systems create money (technically credit, not money) through debt, leading to an out-of-control cycle of compound interest.

It was Canon Peter Challen—a humble, visionary Church of England priest—who took my hand and guided me into the monetary reform movement. Peter hosted a group called the Global Roundtable, which I attended many times, and he chaired the Christian Council for Monetary Justice (CCMJ), an organization advocating for systemic financial reforms to address issues such as usury, debt, and economic inequality from a Christian perspective.

Through Peter’s wisdom, his network, and the spirit of activism that surrounded me in London and Canterbury, I delved into the moral political economy. Under his leadership, the CCMJ emphasized key principles that I believe we should all consider when evaluating our own moral political economy, as well as the standards we set for governments that shape our daily lives:

• Questioning Usury – Critiquing the practice of charging interest on loans, which is often exploitative.

• Respect for Real Wealth – Valuing life and community over material accumulation.

• Genuine Community Investment – Encouraging shared risk and reward within communities.

• Fair Trade – Advocating for equitable trading practices.

• Living Income for All – Supporting policies that provide a dignified basic income.

• Interest-Free Pension Systems – Promoting alternatives to interest-based pension funds.

• Open Capital and Asset-Based Financing – Proposing financial models that are transparent and rooted in tangible assets.

• Affordable Housing – Creating sustainable housing solutions.

• Opposition to Privatization – Resisting the privatization of public assets.

• Democracy and Localization – Encouraging decentralized and participatory economic systems.

From Jubilee 2000 to the Reality of Systemic Change

In 1997, the Church of England began preparing for the Year 2000 Drop the Debt campaign. While studying comparative religion and theology at university, I became involved in organizing and attending The Forum for Stable Currencies at the House of Lords—a group established by Lord Sudeley, whose family had lost everything through financial manipulation.

The Drop the Debt movement was a global campaign advocating for the cancellation of crushing debts owed by the world’s poorest nations to institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Faith-based groups, including Jubilee 2000, framed the issue in moral and theological terms, drawing from biblical teachings such as the Jubilee tradition (Leviticus 25), which called for debt forgiveness every 50 years. The movement emphasized:

• Debt Forgiveness – Cancelling unpayable debts to restore social balance.

• Justice and Equity – Recognizing that unfair debt perpetuates poverty.

• Liberation and Mercy – Aligning debt relief with Christ’s mission of freeing the oppressed.

• Solidarity and Common Good – Encouraging wealthier nations to act responsibly toward poorer ones.

• Repentance and Responsibility – Challenging unjust financial systems that fuel inequality.

While the campaign achieved significant victories, such as influencing the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, I became increasingly aware of a deeper problem: The Drop the Debt movement was treating the symptom, not the cause. Reducing debt burdens was necessary, but it did not address the private bank-led, debt-based monetary system that perpetuates global economic enslavement. (For more on this, see my earlier article, Breaking the Debt Chains.)

A Personal and Intellectual Journey

Immersed in the activism of the time, I married my study of moral economy with the language of faith and culture. By my final year at university, the year 2000, I had delved so deeply into these themes that I chose to write my religious studies thesis on "Money as God, Trade as Religion"—an exploration of how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam address money, taxation, and usury. It may not have been the best academic work, but it allowed me to explore the subjects I loved, and I graduated with a solid degree. Upon graduation I immediately embarked on my Masters Degree in International Conflict Analysis.

I learned how all three Abrahamic traditions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—condemn usury to varying degrees. These traditions converge in their rejection of usury because it fosters inequality and injustice, violating principles of fairness and compassion. And yet, paradoxically, our modern global economy and money supply is built entirely on debt and interest.

Today, predatory lending practices, from international financial institutions to credit cards and payday loans, continue unchecked. But before we discuss lending, we must address the fundamental question:

Why did usury become the very foundation of our money creation system? For the same reason that usury was used as a tool for colonization. To shift wealth and power away from the commons to private banking interests, to consolidate financial and political control.  

And with humility and courage, in the spirit of elevated potential, like Peter, we are called to the great mission of our lives.

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Canon Peter Challen introduced me to the moral and ethical questions which surround our modern global economy.  Notably, he co-authored the 2002 book "Seven Steps to Justice" with Rodney Shakespeare, offering solutions to major global issues from the framework of binary economics and economic justice. His work emphasizes the importance of addressing economic inequalities and promoting fair monetary practices.

Peter set me on a global search which ultimately led me to America to work with Stephen Zarlenga, author of “The Lost Science of Money” through whom I met Dennis. I shall always remember Dennis’ and my English wedding day, where my local parish priest took it upon himself to use our wedding to give a lecture against US foreign policy, blaming Dennis, America’s greatest voice for peace, for the war in Iraq. Peter gracefully rose to the pulpit upon his conclusory remarks and beautifully set the record straight and bringing peace back to our wedding day.

In celebrating Peter on his 94th birthday, we celebrate a person who has navigated the spiritual and the material world with grace and moral courage.

Peter -- we pray for your continued health and fortitude, and give thanks for your guidance, your wisdom and your living faith and your birth! For all you’ve done, for all you are, we love you, Peter.