For All Life provides an important step in the emerging movement toward global dialogue and peace. It is the belief of the book's contributors that human culture has entered a new age of Global Dialogue in response to increased interpenetration of the world's cultures. In our emerging global village, guidance is needed, for as we have painfully seen, our century is not only the century of world culture, it is also the century of world wars, world famines, and worldwide environmental destruction.
In this inspiring and challenging book, Professor Leonard Swidler presents the next stage in the Global Ethic Movement. For All Life includes a number of relevant documents, including the Parliament of the World's Religions' "Declaration Toward a Global Ethic" (Hans Küng), The UN InterAction Council's "Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities," and Swidler's draft of a "Universal Declaration of a Global Ethic," followed by responses from scholars of religion representing Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, African, Chinese, and Baha'i traditions.
Excerpt From the Book We, women and men from various ethical and religious traditions, commit ourselves to the following Universal Declaration of a Global Ethic.... We make this commitment not despite our differences but arising out of our distinct perspectives, recognizing nevertheless in our diverse ethical and religious traditions common convictions that lead us to speak out against all forms of inhumanity and for humaneness in our treatment of ourselves, one another and the world around us. We find in each of our traditions: a) grounds in support of universal human rights, b) a call to work for justice and peace, and c) concern for conservation of the earth. We confirm and applaud the positive human values that are, at times painfully slowly, but nevertheless increasingly, being accepted and advocated in our world: freedom, equality, democracy, recognition of interdependence, commitment to justice and human rights. We also believe that conditions in our world encourage, indeed require, us to look beyond what divides us and to speak as one on matters that are crucial for the survival of and respect for the earth. Therefore we advocate movement toward a global order that reflects the best values found in our myriad traditions.