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Global Ethics and Theological Ethics

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Ethical Exploration in a Multifaith Society

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Abstract

The ethical analysis of the previous chapters has tended to be based on assumptions of western paradigms, with religion and theological ethics set in the context of liberal secular democracies. However, this chapter considers the impact of globalization and consequently global ethics within religious and theological paradigms. The international profile, membership and reach of religious communities and organizations raises further ethical dilemmas. For religious communities and believers there are ethical issues to address about loyalties to faith or country and the balance between the two. Notable examples, with varied implications, are the role of the Vatican for Roman Catholicism, concepts of the Caliphate for Muslims and of Israel for the Jewish tradition. For secular authorities and ethics there are again significant issues about nationality, citizenship and loyalty reflected in contemporary debates over extremism and the phenomenon of young people going abroad to fight for other causes. The politics of migration, welcoming the stranger and responses to those fleeing poverty, environmental degradation and war are also raised by global ethics. Ethical arguments and action from both theological and secular paradigms are examined for their capacity to build a common platform over these urgent priorities.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Possibly the greatest spur to contemporary democratic globalization was the foundation of the Worldwide Web in the 1990s by Tim Berners Lee.

  2. 2.

    Widdows H. Global Ethics: An Introduction. Routledge, 2011. p. 1 (Widdows 2011); Hutchings K. Global Ethics: An Introduction. Polity Press, 2010 (Hutchings 2010).

  3. 3.

    Chapters 2 & 3.

  4. 4.

    Al Biruni and Avicenna both seem to have had knowledge of Sanskrit and exposure to Indian philosophies in Persia see e.g. Mauro Zonta’s. Possible Hebrew Quotations of Avicenna’s Oriental Philosophy. In The Arabic Hebrew and Latin Reception of Avicenna’s Metaphysics, Eds. Dag Nikolas Hasse & Amos Bertolacci. Walter d Gruter & Co, 2010, pp. 177–196 (Zonta 2010).

  5. 5.

    Discussed by Alan Race in Interfaith Encounter: The Twin Tracks of Theology and Dialogue. SCM Press, 2010.

  6. 6.

    Davie G. The Sociology of Religion. Sage Publications, 2007. pp. 1–11; 135–180 (Davie 2007);

  7. 7.

    http://www.pewforum.org/2015/11/03/u-s-public-becoming-less-religious/.

  8. 8.

    http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/religion/articles/religioninenglandandwales2011/2012-12-11.

  9. 9.

    Donovan Vincent J. Christianity Rediscovered. SCM Press, 2001 (Donovan 2001).

  10. 10.

    Ruston Roger. Human Rights and the Image of God. SCM Press, 2004 (Ruston 2004).

  11. 11.

    Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Dr E & Ager Professor. A Local Faith Communities and the Promotion of Resilience in Humanitarian Situations. Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford & Columbia University. https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/files/publications/working-paper-series/wp90-local-faith-communities-resilience-2013.pdf; Heist D & Cnaan Ram. A Faith-Based International Development Work: A Review. School of Social Policy, University of Pennsylvania. Religions 2016, 7, 19; doi: 10.3390/rel7030019. www.mdpi.com/journal/religions (Heist and Cnaan 2016).

  12. 12.

    Rodriquez J & Fortier T. Cultural Memory, Resistance, Faith and Identity. University of Texas Press, 2009 (Rodriquez and Fortier 2009).

  13. 13.

    Kessler E & Arkush M. Keeping Faith in Development: The Significance of Interfaith Relations in the Work of Humanitarian Aid and International Development Organisations. Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths. http://www.woolf.cam.ac.uk/uploads/KeepingFaithinDevelopment.pdf; https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/files/publications/working-paper-series/wp90-local-faith-communities-resilience-2013.pdf.

  14. 14.

    Wood Alan. The Groundnut Affair. London: Bodley Head, 1950 (Wood 1950); Williamson C. Exploring the Failure of Foreign Aid: The Role of Incentives and Information. The review of Austrian economics, Springer Publishing, March 2010, Vol 23:1, pp. 17–33 (Williamson 2010).

  15. 15.

    The Roman Catholic Church being an exception.

  16. 16.

    Although the origins of the phrase are contested one candidate for coining it is Jacques Ellul, radical Barthian Christian, sociologist and lawyer whose Christian Universalism questioned state power and borders. Ellul J. On Freedom, Love and Power. University of Toronto Press, 2010 (Ellul 2010).

  17. 17.

    For example the generosity of Sikh langar, Islamic financial instruments.

  18. 18.

    Richard Holloway concedes that the religious ethics he rejects might provide helpful brakes on technological progress – Holloway R. Godless Morality. Canongate, 2004, pp. 131–149 (Holloway 2004).

  19. 19.

    In 2015, 65.3 million people globally were displaced by war; 40.8 million were internally displaced. Of the 21.3 million seeking refuge only 2.3 million were refugees in industrial countries; 86% were in low/middle income countries, 2.5 million in Turkey. http://www.unhcr.org/uk/news/latest/2016/6/5763b65a4/global-forced-displacement-hits-record-high.html.

  20. 20.

    Also Deuteronomy 10:19, Leviticus 19:34.

  21. 21.

    ‘All beings and creatures are His; He belongs to all’ Guru Granth Sahib Ji 425 & 349 & 1426.

  22. 22.

    Isaiah 61:2.

  23. 23.

    http://jubileedebt.org.uk.

  24. 24.

    Exodus 22:26; Deuteronomy 24:12–13.

  25. 25.

    ‘The Merciful Master has now ordained that no one annoys, oppresses or inflicts pain on, another. All shall abide in peace in a benign regime.’ GGS 74.

  26. 26.

    Isaiah 61.

  27. 27.

    http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/; http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/1206_041206_global_warming_2.html.

  28. 28.

    http://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/how-does-eating-meat-harm-the-environment; http://science.time.com/2013/12/16/the-triple-whopper-environmental-impact-of-global-meat-production/.

  29. 29.

    Genesis 1: 26 – ‘let them have dominion over the earth…’ Qu’ran 2:31 Allah taught Adam the names of all things…& 30:2–21 injunction to dwell on earth in peace.

  30. 30.

    Hamer MD. The Rape of the Earth and the Human Ego. Countercurrents, 14 May 2010; Gunarsdottir S. Rapes of Earth and Grapes of Wrath. Feminist Theology 18:2, January 2010, pp. 206–222 (Gunarsdottir 2010); Wilson SR. Rape of the Land: Twenty-first Century Ecofeminism and Rape Culture Comment, 24 February 2016; Dr Hans Adam. The Rape of Mother Earth. Salzburg, 16 January 2002; Vacks GJ. The Rape of the Earth: A World Survey of Soil Erosion. Faber & Faber, 1939 (Vacks 1939); Collard A & Contrucci J. Man’s Rape of the Wild: Man’s Violence Against Animals and the Earth. Indiana University Press, 1998 (Collard and Contrucci 1998).

  31. 31.

    See e.g. Paula Gooder’s. Heaven. SPCK, 2011.

  32. 32.

    Genesis 1 & 2; notably Psalm 148–151; the Song of Songs.

  33. 33.

    The Hebrew word for Dominion over the earth radah is a world for kingly rule; but the wise Israeli king is a steward and a servant.

  34. 34.

    mahabhuta.

  35. 35.

    prthivi.

  36. 36.

    jal.

  37. 37.

    tejas.

  38. 38.

    vayu.

  39. 39.

    akasa.

  40. 40.

    http://www.dalailama.com/messages/environment/buddhist-concept-of-nature.

  41. 41.

    Fox Matthew. A Way to God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey. New World Publishing, 2016 (Fox 2016).

  42. 42.

    Matthew Fox. Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth. Harper Publishing, 1991 (Fox 1991).

  43. 43.

    First published 1991, updated by Parallax Press, 2007; more mainstream Buddhist writing includes Akuppa. Touching the Earth: A Buddhist Guide to Saving the Plant. Windhorse Publications, 2002 (Akuppa 2002).

  44. 44.

    Harper Collins, London, 1994.

  45. 45.

    1997 Orbis Books.

  46. 46.

    Linzey A. Animal Theology. SCM Press, 2000 (Linzey 2000).

  47. 47.

    Pope Francis. Laudato Si or Praise Be to You: On Care for Our Common Home. Ignatian Press, 2015 (Pope Francis 2015).

  48. 48.

    Blanchard KD & O Brien K. An Introduction to Christian Environmentalism: Ecology, Virtue & Ethics. Baylor University Press, 2014 (Blanchard and O Brien 2014); Butler M & Morris AP. Creation and the Heart of Man: An Orthodox Study of Environmentalism. Acton Institute for Study of Religion and Liberty, 2013 (Butler and Morris 2013);

  49. 49.

    Ibrahim Abdul Matin. Green Deen: What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Plant. Kube Publishing, 2012 (Abdul Matin 2012); see also Akhtaruddin A & Clarke A. Ed. Islam and the Environmental Crisis. Ta-Ha Publishers, 1997 (Akhtaruddin and Clarke 1997) and Haleem HA. Islam and the Environment. Ta-Ha Publishing, 1999 (Haleem 1999).

  50. 50.

    Rabbi D Peretz Elkins. Simple Actions for Jews to Help Green the Planet: Jews, Judaism and the Environment. Create Space Publishing, 2011 (Peretz Elkins 2011); see too by Hava Tirosh-samuelso. Judaism and Ecology: Created World and Revealed Word. Harvard University Press, 2003 (Tirosh-Samuelso 2003).

  51. 51.

    Tanner K. Creation and Providence, p. 111–126 of The Cambridge Companion to Karl Barth. Cambridge University Press, 2000 (Tanner 2000).

  52. 52.

    Lipner J. Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. Routledge, 2010, pp. 268–269 (Lipner 2010); Menski W. in Ethical Issues in Six Religious Traditions. Edinburgh University Press, 2007. p. 27 (Menski 2007).

  53. 53.

    Oxfam.

  54. 54.

    Morgan P & Lawton C. Ethical Issues in Six Religious Traditions. Edinburgh University Press, 2007. pp. 13–15, 70–71, 128–129, 174, 226–227, 297–298 (Lawton 2007).

  55. 55.

    Generally speaking Judaism qualifies theology about the integrity of the body by the principle that if donating organs saves a life that is a higher commandment; however, removal of organs after death is often removed as use for research is not the same – or ethically valid – as donation for the immediate saving of life.

  56. 56.

    Like Judaism the principles of bodily integrity and preserving life apply in Islam but opinion is divided; many Muslims will apply the principle that preserving another’s life takes precedence following Surah 5; others regard bodily integrity as paramount.

  57. 57.

    See e.g. Wolterstorff N. Justice Right and Wrong. Princeton University Press, 2010 (Wolterstorff 2010).

  58. 58.

    Lawton C. Judaism in Ethical Issues in Six Religious Traditions. op. cit., p. 170.

  59. 59.

    Fasching Dechant & Lantigua. Comparative Religious Ethics. Wiley Blackwell, 2011, pp. 1–84 (Fasching et al. 2011).

  60. 60.

    Founded by Catholic priest Bruce Kent.

  61. 61.

    see e.g. http://pluralism.org/research-report/interfaith-and-faith-based-peace-organizations/.

  62. 62.

    Particularly notable in Catholic persecution in Elizabethan England and justifiably suspect in some modern extremist Islamist movements seeking restoration of the Caliph.

  63. 63.

    Discussed for example in Ilesanmi S, Lee WC & Parker WJ (Ed.). The Rule of Law and the Rule of God. Palgrave MacMillan US, 2014 particularly, pp. 15–52 & 145–188 (Ilesanmi et al. 2014).

  64. 64.

    http://www.citizensuk.org.

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    Catherine Shelley

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Shelley, C. (2017). Global Ethics and Theological Ethics. In: Ethical Exploration in a Multifaith Society. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46711-5_9

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