Introduction
1. As human civilization advances
into the 21st century, the world is entering a
period of transformation at least as profound and far
reaching as that of the industrial revolution.
Globalization of the world economy is matched by
globalization of the world’s problems ? population,
environment, development, unemployment, security and
moral and cultural decadance. Humankind is crying out
both for justice and for meaning.2. The physical
changes in technology and the applied sciences have far
outstripped the ability of our institutions to respond.
The state is still the main instrument for translating
collective will into concrete action but everywhere the
concept of state sovereignty is under siege. To repeat
the well known phrase the nation state is too small for
the big problems and too big for local problems. The
multinational corporation enjoys unprecedented
opportunities as world trade and investment expands but
corporate leaders now face agonizing questions about
corporate responsibility in unfamiliar areas like human
rights. Religious institutions still command the loyalty
of hundreds of millions of people but secularization and
consumerism command even more support. The world is also
afflicted by religious extremism and violence preached
and practiced in the name of religion. The use of the
word “fundamentalism” in this regard is a
misnomer, because religious people everywhere believe
deeply in the fundamentals of their faiths, but most
religious people also reject violence and believe that
force should never be used to advance their cause. So the
world is in flux. Where do we turn?
Concrete Recommendations
3. To promote the dissemination of ethical norms, the
InterAction Council recognizes that sovereign states are
still the primary vehicles of change. Granted that the
sovereign states are the main target, we should also pay
due attention to the role of electronic mass media and
the possible transnational organizations that are
increasingly gaining power on the global scene.
4. To ensure some significant degree of success in
promoting a global ethic, it is essential and perhaps
crucial that religions of the world with divergent
believe systems and regions of influence should be able
to cooperate closely in persuading the sovereign states
and various relevant institutions to help realize this
goal. This would serve at least two important functions.
On the one hand, this collaborative effort will
demonstrate that different religions can indeed meet with
open minds in reaching an agreement on the urgency of the
problems humanity faces today , and on the role of
ethical standards and norms required to combat this world
crisis. On the other, the mere fact that all the
religions of the world have been able to work in concert
to promote global ethical standards will ease the task of
disseminating such norms throughout the world.
5. Meetings of the world religious leaders could
facilitate the cause of global ethics. Such meetings can
specifically urge sovereign states and their leaders,
educational institutions, mass media (TV, video, etc.),
as well as their own religious institutions, to adopt and
promote by every means possible a consensus on the global
ethic. It should be stressed that such gatherings should
include representatives of religions, making sure to
include women. Existing global religious organizations
could facilitate such meetings.
6. Recommendations by these groups should be directed
mainly to the people in decision-making positions of
government, education, mass media, non-governmental
non-profit organizations, and religious organizations of
each sovereign state. These have direct or indirect
involvement with propagation and inculcation of the
global ethical standards and norms contained in the
recommendations and other basic information related to
world religions.
7. If religious leaders accept the invitation of the
InterAction Council to meet, the world will welcome a
discussion of a concrete action plan to promote the
dissemination of the global ethic. While not exclusive,
elements of such a plan could include:
- the compiling of a common code of ethics which
could then be put in booklet form and
disseminated across the globe.
- In addition to this general code of ethics,
specific codes of ethics should be promoted for
the professions, business, political parties,
mass media and other critical interests. Such
codes of ethics will contribute to
self-regulation.
- Suggestions to the world’s leaders that in
1998, the 50th anniversary of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United
Nations should convene a conference to consider a
Declaration of Human Obligations to complement
the earlier crucial work on rights.
- Development of a global educational curriculum
that would include the best contributions of the
world’s religions and philosophies. Such a
curriculum should be available to every
educational institution and it should be
accessible through the most current
communications technologies ? the internet,
educational television, videos, radio, etc.
- To broaden understanding and to combine the
intellectual resources necessary for the
development of such a curriculum, the United
Nations should consider establishing as part of
the U.N. University system a World Interfaith
Academy that would bring together scholars,
students and leaders of the world’s faiths.
The Need for Global Ethical Standards
8. As Aristotle taught us the human being is a
social animal. Because we must live in society ? because
we must live with each other in harmony ? human beings
need rules and constraints. Ethics are the minimum
standards that make a collective life possible. Without
ethics and self-restraint that are their result,
humankind would revert to the jungle. In a world of
unprecedented change humankind has a desperate need of an
ethical base on which to stand.
9. The world’s religions constitute one of the great
traditions of wisdom for humankind. This repository of
wisdom, ancient in its origins, has never been needed
more. Ethics should precede politics and the law, because
political action is concerned with values and choice.
Ethics, therefore, must inform and inspire our political
leadership. Education at its best opens up human
potential to understanding and tolerance. Without ethics
and the teaching of right and wrong, our schools become
mere factories mass producing labor soon to be
obsolescent. Mass communications is one of the most
powerful mediums in influencing the mind and behaviors of
human beings but the violence, degradation and triviality
of much of the media pollute the human spirit rather than
elevate it.
10. To respond to this world of change each of our
institutions needs a re-dedication to ethical norms. We
can find the sources of such a re-dedication in the
world’s religions and ethical traditions. They have
the spiritual resources to give an ethical lead to the
solution of our ethnic, national, social, economic and
religious tensions. The world’s religions have
different doctrines but they all advocate a common ethic
of basic standards. What unites the world’s faiths
is far greater than what divides them. They all advocate
self-restraint, obligations, responsibilities and
sharing. They all advocate the virtues of humility,
compassion and justice. Each assesses the maze of life
and in its own way discerns the patterns which give
meaning to the whole. To solve our global problems we
must begin with a common ethical base
The Core of a Global Ethic
11. Today humanity possesses sufficient economic,
cultural, and spiritual resources to introduce a better
global order, but old and new ethnic, national, social,
economic and religious tensions threaten the peaceful
building of a better world. In such a dramatic global
situation humanity needs a vision of peoples living
peacefully together, of ethnic and ethical groupings and
of religions sharing responsibility for the care of
earth, a vision which rests on hopes, goals, ideals,
standards. We are therefore grateful that the Parliament
of the World’s Religions, which assembled in Chicago
in 1993, proclaimed a Declaration towards a Global Ethic
which we support in principle.
12. There have been landmark advances to strengthen human
rights in international law and justice beginning with
the United Nations adopting the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, strengthened by the two Human Rights
Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and Social,
Cultural and Economic Rights, and elaborated by the
Vienna Declaration on Human Rights and Programme for
Action. What the U.N. proclaimed on the level of rights,
the Chicago Declaration confirmed and deepened from the
perspective of obligations: the full realization of
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, both as individuals and as communities.
Also we are convinced that a better global order cannot
be created or enforced by laws, prescriptions, and
conventions alone; that action in favor of rights and
freedoms presumes a consciousness of responsibility and
duty, and that therefore both the minds and hearts of
women and men must be addressed; that rights without
obligations cannot long endure, and that there will be no
better global order without a global ethic.
13. The global ethic is no substitute for the Torah, the
Gospels, the Qur’an, the Bhagavadgita, the
Discourses of the Buddha or the Teachings of Confucius
and of others. A global ethic provides a necessary
minimum of common values, standards and basic attitudes.
In other words: a minimal basic consensus relating to
binding values, irrevocable standards and moral attitudes
which can be affirmed by all religions despite their
dogmatic differences and can also be supported by
non-believers.
14. In affirmation of the Chicago Declaration which for
the first time in the history of religions formulated
this minimal basic consensus, we recommend two principles
which are vital for every individual, social, and
political ethic:
(1) Every human being must be treated humanely.
(2) Do unto others as you want others to do unto you.
This Rule is part of every great religious tradition.
15. On the basis of these two principles there are four
irrevocable commitments on which all religions agree and
which we fully support:
- a commitment to a culture of non-violence and
respect for life,
- a commitment to a culture of solidarity and a
just economic order,
- a commitment to a culture of tolerance and a life
of truthfulness,
- a commitment to a culture of equal rights and
partnership between men
and women.
16. Cognizant of the different approaches of religions
towards family planning policies and methods, it was
agreed that present population trends make the pursuit of
effective family planning inevitable. The positive
experience of several countries and religions should be
shared and scientific research into family planning
should be accelerated.
17. Education, at all levels, has a crucial role to play
in inculcating global ethical values in the minds of the
younger generation. From the primary school to the
university, curricula and syllabi should be restructured
to include common global values and to promote
understanding of religions other than one’s own.
Educational programmes should inform values like
“affirmative tolerance” and curricular
materials should be produced accordingly. The development
of the aspirations of youth should be a major emphasis.
UNESCO and the United Nations University and other
international bodies should work together to achieve this
objective. The electronic media should be enlisted.
18. We note the ongoing participatory process, initiated
by the Earth Council and Green Cross International to
develop and Earth Charter. We welcome this initiative as
an example of an effort to involve the world’s
religions and other groups in defining the basic change
in values, behavior and attitudes of government, private
sector and civil society, needed for a shift to a
sustainable development.
19. Because respect of life is a core ethical commitment,
combating the scourge of war and violence must be at the
top of the world’s priorities. Two issues in
particular smut receive immediate attention: the trade in
small arms, semi-automatic weapons must be curbed and the
easy availability of such weapons must cease. And like
small arms, landmines have destroyed a score of innocent
lives. This problem is especially acute in Cambodia, in
the former Yugoslavia, in Africa and in Afghanistan. The
systematic removal and dismantling of landmines is an
urgent need.
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