In recent years American public discourse has often heard the term “transactional morality.” In simple terms it means that getting to a social gol that is deemed worthy of pursuit can be carried on with little or no determined moral constraints. Flexibility is its prime characteristic. And that flexibility can include lies, deliberate misinformation and governmental control of public communication.
I perceive transactional morality gaining an increasing foothold in American society as we enter 2025. In my judgment this trend
must be confronted head-on with a strong counterweight. Such a counterweight is the Global Ethic. which emerged from the 1993 convening of the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago. This 1993 convening celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the initial parliament that was part of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.
Public morality rooted in religious traditions can be a decisive counterweight to pure transactional morality in societal life. The Global Ethic provides us with the needed measure of flexibility in public policy grounded in a solid foundation of persistent moral values shared in distinctive expressions drawn from the varied religious communities that make up the religious landscape of contemporary American society. It is not rooted solely and exclusively in the misnamed “Judaeo-Christian” tradition but has emerged from the shared, collective wisdom of a much wider world of religious communities which includes the Asian and African traditions, indigenous and tribal spiritualities, and new religious insights emerging from insights into the complexity of our universe.
The need for a global ethic was recognized by the planners of the 1993 Parliament. They enlisted the prominent Catholic theologian Hans Kung who had already raised the need for such a Global Ethic and the Vicar for Ecumenism for the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago Fr. Thomas Baima to coordinate the composition of such a Global Ethic by leaders of global religious communities present at the Chicago Parliament. The text that emerged emerged from the discussion over several days by these religious leaders was approved
and signed by these religious leaders in September 1993.
The founders of this Declaration saw the Global Ethic as a statement of the basic ethical commitments shared by people throughout the globe, religious or not. They agreed that it represented an initial effort, a point of beginning, at building an ongoing ethical consensus that would counter any effort to promote “transactionalism” as the moral framework for an increasingly integrated global society.
Building on the initial declaration of the Global Ethic-always intended to be a living document–the Gobal Ethic was officially expanded in July 2018 at the convening of the Parliament in Toronto, Canada. This expansion was the fruit of a year-long consultation among more than one hundred scholars of religion and ethicists gathered from the world’s faith communities in all regions of the world. Most of the expansion was focused on the new challenges facing the global community from increasingly destructive climate change.
The Global Ethic was once morte reaffirmed in a solemn ceremony at the Parliament’s 2023 convening in Chicago. Once again representatives of faith communities from around the world, many of whom had not signed the Declaration in 1993, added their names to those of the original signatories.
Since its inception the Global Ethic has been managed by the Parliament’s office in Chicago in collaboration with an European office established by Hans Kung in Tubingen, Germany. That office has specialized in promotion of the Global Ethic within various professions such as those involved in the global economy and the international legal system.
The Global Ethic begins with the contention that our global society is in the midst of a shattering crisis., a crisis that has intensified since
1993. This is particularly the case brought on by the various dimensions of climate change. As a human community we can only confront this crisis if we see ourselves as a global family that draws wisdom from our respective faith communities. As religious people we do not proclaim ourselves as superior to those who pursue a life of justice and peace without formal religious affiliation.
The Declaration goes on to affirm that our joint belief in an ultimate reality enables us to draw spiritual power and hope from such belief. This linkage to the divine grounds our common responsibility for the welfare of all humanity and the care of our earth, our common home. This responsibility will be carried out only if we instill in human consciousness a sense of foundational ethical values drawn in significant ways from the religions of the world.
The Global Ethic Declaration builds its ethical outlook around five irrevocable directives. They are: (1) Commitment to a culture of non-violence and respect for life; (2) Commitment to a culture of solidarity and a joint economic order; (3) commitment to a culture of tolerance and a life of truthfulness (especially in short supply today); (4) commitment to a culture of rights and partnership between men and women, a commitment that is in danger of unraveling in our time, and (5) commitment to a culture of sustainability and the care of the earth.
The full narrative of the Declaration can be found online: “Parliament of the World’s Religions/Global Ethic”. The Declaration calls an openness to risk and a readiness to sacrifice. It summons us to move beyond the dominance of greed for power, prestige, money and personal consumption to the creation of a just and more peaceful world. Religion has a vital public role but only if it operates out of positive collaboration rather than the frequent tendency to dominate. The Global Ethic can serve as a counterweight to the various forms of religious nationalisms that continue to debase our public life.
ADR Advisor The Rev. Dr. John Pawlikowski is a Servite Friar priest, Professor Emeritus of Social Ethics, and Former Director of the Catholic-Jewish Studies Program, part of The Bernardin Center for Theology and Ministry, at Chicago’s Catholic Theological Union (CTU). Pawlikowski was appointed to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council by several presidents, chaired the council's Subcommittee on Church Relations, served on its executive committee, the Committee on Conscience, and academic committee.He also served as president of the International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ) and is a member 3 key committees of the Parliament of the World's Religions (Global Ethic, Peace and Justice, and Climate Action Task Force).
Latest posts by John Pawlikowski (see all)
- GLOBAL ETHIC: COUNTERWEIGHT TO TRANSACTIONAL MORALITY – by John Pawlikowski - January 2, 2025
- New Climate Inflection Point in our Axial Age – by The Rev. Dr. John Pawlikowski - January 12, 2024
- Living in an Axial Age – by John T. Pawlikowski, OSM, Ph.D - January 11, 2023