Last week, the department of theology at Humboldt-University, Berlin, Germany held a two-day seminar on the question of "Morals and world religions." The underlying question in all the presentations and discussions asked if there were basic unifying principles in all religions that could be used to turn the globalization project into something good for all people. The question especially focused on Judaism, Christianity and Islam. As the dialogue between Islam and Christianity has been a topic of discussion at Islam Online recently, it will be interesting to see what ideas and suggestions the seminar provided.
The Idea Of A Global Ethos
The original idea of a global ethos comes from a group of German Catholic theologians in Germany who initiated a foundation called "Global Ethos." It invites interfaith dialogue between representatives of all religions. The term global ethos is based explicitly on religious ethos, not some basic human principles everybody could agree upon. The foundation promotes the existence of shared ideals and morals in the different religions and advocates the necessity of a religious solution to the unbalanced and harmful reality of global capitalism. They believe that an undivided world, which our planet is turning into, needs an undivided ethos. In a world where all other factors binding society seem to disappear, it is all the more important to reintroduce religion with its basic norms, values and morals to society. The goal of the founders is not a syncretistic world religion that embraces aspects of all the religions involved, but a clear differentiation between the religions, and on that basis a struggle for more spiritual presence in modern life. In their eyes, it is important to unite religious people 'against' the spiritless life of global capitalism in order to live up to the ideals of a religiously inspired society. As the two world religions Islam and Christianity make for about one third of the world population when counting all nominal followers, these two religions have a special responsibility for saving the future of the world society. The founders declare that there is a basic consensus in all religions about basic values and principles that are already contained in the sources of the religions; therefore, they don't have to be invented for this purpose.
"The Parliament Of World Religions"
In a conference under the title "Parliament of World Religions" held in Chicago in 1993 the foundation agreed with the attending representatives on a resolution of global ethos, which reflects the above-mentioned ideas and defines the following principles:
That a new world order cannot be achieved without a global ethos and that it is
the responsibility of all religious people to participate in this struggle,
Those human beings have a right to be treated in a humane way, which includes
the tolerance between the religions and an end to religious conflicts
That there are four basic principles in every religion:
- A culture of non-violence and respect for life
- A culture of solidarity and fair economy
- A culture of tolerance and a life in truthfulness
- A culture of equality and partnership between man and woman.
It is no coincidence that the terms and the language used sound rather Christian, as the initiators are Christian theologians. They very self-critically admit that theology has not done enough to even spread knowledge about other religions, and if they did, then for the purpose of proving them wrong. There was also talk about the crimes and atrocities committed by and in the name of religious groups and that Christianity has probably the longest list of guilt here. Nevertheless, they believe that the only chance for the planet lies in a reintroduction of shared religious values with a strengthening of the different religious groups and a dialogue between them.
A Muslim Voice
The chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany participated in the seminar and gave a talk on the moral principles in Islam. Nadeem Elyas, a prominent Muslim in Germany, proved the declaration right speaking about the Islamic idea of haram and halal, emphasizing that it is a human responsibility to recognize God and through that recognition to make a choice to serve Him. He pointed at the Islamic principles of science and knowledge, which is based on respect for the dignity of the human beings and the whole creation. Its ultimate goal is to discover more of the creation and see God' wisdom in each and every aspect of the creation, which would lead him to accept God as the creator even more and serve Him better. Dr. Elyas' talk was received with a lot of interest and the discussion showed again how many misconceptions there are even and especially in the minds of educated Germans about Islam. It proves the initiators of the seminar right that it is necessary to first know more about one's own and the other religions to indulge in a fruitful dialogue.
Looking at the list of people who already signed the declaration of a global ethos, it is interesting that there are very few Muslims among the signatories. One may ask why Muslim thinkers and theologians are not too interested in this idea?
