World Religions Working Together for Justice — Part II
Maybe it is possible to create a just world
This is my second installment chronicling my time at the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions (PoWR). As I shared in my first installment, I am currently attending my first PoWR convening.
During my first day, I met and talked with dozens of people who have attended several past convenings. After just one day, I see why so many people chose to return. It is utterly amazing to be surrounded by several thousands of people passionate about making the world a better place.
There is so much I could write about regarding my first day. For the sake of time, however (my schedule is quite tight!), I want to focus on one aspect of my first day. While there were hundreds of sessions focusing on every aspect of interfaith engagement you can imagine, I was intentional in attending as many sessions as I could highlighting the significance of the Parliament’s foundational document, Towards a Global Ethic: An Initial Declaration. This year’s convening celebrates the 30th anniversary of the document.
A global ethic for living
The Global Ethic is a landmark declaration of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. The document seeks to highlight the universal values and principles shared by many of the world’s religious, spiritual, and cultural traditions. In describing the need for a global ethic, PoWR declares:
The Global Ethic responds to an urgent practical need as well as a deep spiritual hunger for clear moral guidance on the most fundamental issues of human life and conduct. It expresses a minimal set of principles for committed action in a world torn by violence, religious and racial hatred, oppression of women and minority groups, extremes of wealth and poverty, and the growing threat of climate change and destruction of the natural world. A major achievement of the Global Ethic is to demonstrate that there is agreement on these issues. It recognizes that beyond legislated laws and conventions, there must be changes in people’s minds, hearts, and ways of life.
The document builds upon the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations. It seeks to deepen, from the perspective of an ethic, what the UN Declaration proclaims on the level of rights. The Global Ethic declares “the full realization of the intrinsic dignity of the human person, the inalienable freedom and equality in principle of all humans, and the necessary solidarity and interdependence of all humans with each other”
This Global Ethic includes five directives (or commitments):
- Commitment to a Culture of Non-violence and Respect for Life
- Commitment to a Culture of Solidarity and a Just Economic Order.
- Commitment to a Culture of Tolerance and a Life of Truthfulness
- Commitment to a Culture of Equal Rights and Partnership Between Men and Women
- Commitment to a Culture of Sustainability and Care for the Earth
At this year’s PoWR convening, the Global Ethic Symposium celebrates 30 years of the Parliament’s foundational document. The Symposium brings together prominent representatives from several religious and spiritual traditions to explore HOW to put into practice the five directives.
The Symposium opened with a general assembly, The Global Ethic in Action. The following is the program description of the assembly:
This assembly celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Global Ethic document, introduced to the attendees of the Parliament in Chicago in 1993. It is a unique and courageous expression of the moral values and principles shared by people throughout the world, whether religious or not. It is also a living document, expanded in 2018 with language elaborating a commitment to a culture of sustainability and care for the Earth. It is a powerful starting place for collaboration between those whose beliefs or worldviews may clash but who agree on the basic moral principles and values that ground their work on issues of common concern.
During the assembly, luminaries discuss how the Global Ethic relates to their personal and organizational efforts to improve the social good.
The assembly was awe-inspiring, to say the least. Over the course of Day 2 and Day 3, the Symposium will sponsor five programs — part panel and part workshop — to engage each of the five directives.
Moving beyond cynical skepticism
While I wish it were not the case, it is easy for me to believe that most people are motivated purely by self-interest. I often tend to be distrustful of human sincerity or integrity, and I often consider documents like the Global Ethic to be naive and/or “pollyannish” at best or intentionally dismissive of structural and systemic oppression at worse. Either way, my skepticism often leads me to consider such documents dangerous because they intentionally or unintentionally allow for the continuation of human oppression and suffering.
I realize, however, that much of my skepticism is the result of what the description of the Global Ethic identifies as “a deep spiritual hunger for clear moral guidance on the most fundamental issues of human life and conduct.” I tend to be cynical because I deeply desire and long for a world that has long eluded us.
While I wish the sessions I attended today were more direct and explicit in naming, identifying, and challenging structures and systems that produce human oppression and suffering, the Global Ethic document does appear to acknowledge that such structures and systems exist. The opening declaration of the Global Ethic reads:
The world is in agony. The agony is so pervasive and urgent that we are compelled to name its manifestations so that the depth of this pain may be made clear.
Peace eludes us…the planet is being destroyed…neighbors live in fear…women and men are estranged from each other…children die!
This is abhorrent!
We condemn the abuses of Earth’s ecosystems.
We condemn the poverty that stifles life’s potential; the hunger that weakens the human body; the economic disparities that threaten so many families with ruin.
We condemn the social disarray of the nations; the disregard for justice which pushes citizens to the margin; the anarchy overtaking our communities; and the insane death of children from violence. In particular, we condemn aggression and hatred in the name of religion.
The document also demands accountability and action by asserting:
We are interdependent. Each of us depends on the well-being of the whole, and so we have respect for the community of living beings, for people, animals, and plants, and for the preservation of Earth, the air, water, and soil.
We take individual responsibility for all we do. All our decisions, actions, and failures to act have consequences….
We consider humankind our family. We must strive to be kind and generous. We must not live for ourselves alone, but should also serve others, never forgetting the children, the aged, the poor, the suffering, the disabled, the refugees, and the lonely. No person should ever be considered or treated as a second-class citizen, or be exploited in any way whatsoever…. We must put behind us all forms of domination or abuse.
We commit ourselves to a culture of non-violence, respect, justice and peace. We shall not oppress, injure, torture or kill other human beings, forsaking violence as a means of settling differences.
We must strive for a just social and economic order, in which everyone has an equal chance to reach full potential as a human being. We must speak and act truthfully and with compassion, dealing fairly with all, and avoiding prejudice and hatred…. We must move beyond the dominance of greed for power, prestige, money, and consumption to make a just and peaceful world….
Without risk and a readiness to sacrifice there can be no fundamental change in our situation. Therefore we commit ourselves to this global ethic, to understanding one another, and to socially beneficial, peace-fostering, and nature-friendly ways of life.
We invite all people, whether religious or not, to do the same.
While I wish the document was explicit in naming, identifying, and challenging specific structures and systems that produce human oppression and suffering, it does appear to me that the document at least acknowledges that such structures and systems do exist and that they should be rejected.
I look forward to ongoing conversation, discussion, and dialogue and learning more about the inspiring and potentially liberating work of the Parliament of the World’s Religions.
While I wish I could write more, I have another full day ahead of me. I hope to share more soon (but probably not daily anymore!!)
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