Creating a Culture of Conscience: Directives on Global Ethics (Part 1)

Presenters: Carolyn Dorrance, Maruice Bisheff and Allan Cooley
The Institute of World Culture is renewing its commitment to promoting the welfare of humanity and of all that lives while preserving the rich but depleted resources in Nature. Throughout the world, mankind and all life forms are suffering from horrific events, natural and man-made. Thoughtful, transformative and ethical responses are necessary. The aims given in the Declaration of Interdependence will guide our search for alternatives to global turmoil. In its Forums and Study Circles, fearless inquiry and constructive dialogue will seek to awaken conscience in the investigation of the imaginative use of the spiritual, mental and material resources of the globe. Thereby, men and women of universal culture become capable of continuous growth in nonviolence of mind, generosity of heart and harmony of soul. The therapeutics of self-transformation in a culture of conscience can reveal the conditions, prospects and possibilities of the world civilization of the future and foster human fellowship among all races, nations and cultures.
To provide an ethical and practical foundation for creating a Culture of Conscience, the study of a document, called "Towards a Global Ethic," may be helpful. This document was first presented at the initial Parliament of World's Religions in 1893. It was updated in 2015 and approved at the 2020 Conference of the Parliament. In it there is a remarkable, insightful analysis of our contemporary social circumstances and plans for active improvement of human interactions and living conditions. A fundamental demand that every human being must be treated humanely is made. Moral principles of a Global Ethics are discussed.
After the analysis, there are five Directives chosen by Parliament leaders to be the focus for study this year. At each of the two forums below, the core ideas in each of these five Directives will be presented by volunteers, followed by discussion. In this way, we will be joining a global conversation that includes our comments on how a Culture of Consciences might be created. The topics for each forum are as follows:
Saturday, January 13, 2024
Introduction to the Aims and Value of Global Ethics
Commitment to a Culture of Non-Violence and Respect for Life
Commitment to a Culture of Solidarity and a Just Economic Order