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Religious and faith-based groups across California, including the Presbyterian Church, United Methodist Church and California Council of Churches, are urging people to vote Yes on Proposition 37, the California ballot measure to label genetically engineered foods.

Genetically engineered foods, also called GMOs, are fundamentally altered at the genetic level to combine the DNA of different species in ways that can’t occur in nature.

“In some circles, GMO means ‘God Moves Over,'” wrote Dana Hull in the San Jose Mercury News. Genetically engineered food clashes with various religious beliefs, ranging from keeping kosher, to maintaining a healthy food supply, to protecting God’s creations.

“It is immoral that consumers be left in the dark about what is in their food. Californians have been leaders in the public’s ‘right to know’ on food labeling, and this is a good first step in continuing our pursuit of healthy food and market transparency,” said the
California Council of Churches, which represents 21 Protestant and Orthodox denominations and over 1.5 million church members throughout California.

“In Deuteronomy 22:9-11, I believe that God is saying that the work of creating new species is not in the realm of work assigned to humanity; rather, it is in the realm of sacred work reserved for God,” said
Rabbi Eliku Gevirtz of Los Angeles. “In this spirit, and in the spirit of the intent behind the laws of kashrut, it is best to know what is going into our food before we eat it.”