An essential dimension of our human dignity and of who we are as human beings is our relatedness. From the moment we begin to exist, we are part of a web of relationships. Respect for the dignity of every person (including ourselves) calls for carrying out our responsibilities toward these relationships. This is what the value of SOLIDARITY/COMMUNITY is all about. This assignment calls for you to identify significant points from our readings concerning the meaning and importance of solidarity and of responsibility toward our human community. It consists of several parts. You need to answer each part, separating them clearly. Please follow the instructions for answering each section. The minimum required word count includes the total of all the answers taken together. Explain what The Dalai Lama means by UNIVERSAL RESPONSIBILITY and what it involves. Be sure to identify the most important points that he makes about this. Identify the most significant points in Mbiti’s description of the lived experience of COMMUNITY/RELATEDNESS in African indigenous religions/cultures. Identify and discuss a key point from Declaration towards a Global Ethic that underlines the significance (i.e., meaning and importance) of human solidarity and of our responsibility toward the human community. Your answer must be based ONLY on the material and links that are posted in this course on Blackboard. (material and readings below) Read book Reluctant Saint, The Life Of Francis of Assisi, Donald Spoto; The Early Franciscan Way of Life Spoto, pp. 95-109 (Chapter 8) ——————————————————————————————– The Early Franciscan Way of LIfe Francis’ Ideas for the COMMUNITY of his brothers: After receiving approval from the Pope for his desire to follow the Gospel, Francis still had to work out a way of life for his fraternity. He did not have a grand master-plan. He did want to follow the Gospel as closely as possible. In the beginning, Francis never planned to found a great religious order. And when other men joined him and wished to follow his lifestyle, he was determined that they were not going to be like the other religious orders in the Church at that time. He did not want them to live shut away from the world in a monastery. In fact, they were not to own any property, such as monasteries, churches, or houses, at all. Instead of living in a cloister, they were to go out, into the highways and byways, preaching the gospel to anyone who would listen and ministering to those who were poor and sick. Instead of observing rank among themselves or having a religious superior over them, they were to call each other “Brother” and treat each other as such. In fact, Francis insisted that they were to be called the “Lesser Brothers” — in Latin, Fratres Minores. In the society of the Italian city-states at that time, majores (“the greater ones”) referred to the important people — those who were members of the wealthy nobility. Minores meant the “little people,” the “lesser ones,” those who were not considered important. Francis adopted that designation to symbolize his brothers’ intentional striving for humility and for being of service to others. —————————————————————————————————– More on Community : We continue with our discussion of the value of community. Community – in the sense we are using it here – is not something optional or extrinsic to us, but something essential. In our 21st century, first-world society, we may tend to assume that we can take it or leave it, that being involved in community is a CHOICE. It is not. Our culture’s emphasis on individualism may cause us to forget how deeply interconnected we are, from the very moment we begin to exist. Community – meaning, again, our essential connectedness to one another – is part of who we are and part of our human vocation. We are ESSENTIALLY related to one another, created to be in relationship with one another. Because of our close interconnectedness, our thoughts, words, actions – our very existence – have a profound impact on the persons around us, just as theirs do on us. Most faith traditions, not only Christianity, acknowledge this fact and believe that we have serious responsibilities because of it. A sense of community, of relatedness, of connectedness with others has characterized many societies throughout human history. Many cultures have had definite expectations about social roles and social obligations. In some cultures, social obligations take precedence over individual freedoms. OUR culture, on the other hand, emphasizes individual rights and freedoms to such an extent that our awareness of our essential connectedness (and the responsibilities it entails) often takes a back seat. This week, we have readings that provide different, non-first world cultural perspectives on the communal dimension of human existence. The Dalai Lama describes what he terms “universal responsibility,” stretching our ideas about how far our responsibility for others extends. John Mbiti describes the deep sense of relatedness-with-others that prevails in indigenous cultures in Africa, a sense that many of US may have lost sight of. “The Declaration toward a Global Ethic” by the Parliament of the World’s Religions expresses inspiration and commitment to work together as a global community – in a way that transcends religious and cultural differences – for the betterment of humankind. ————————————————————————————————– READ: Community in Buddhism This week, we explore what some other religious traditions of the world believe about the value of solidarity/community. As we have seen, Buddhism is one of the major religions in the world, with approximately 500 million adherents, and comprising large percentages of the populations of many Asian countries. Along with compassion, the value of COMMUNITY is also important in Buddhism. Attached here is a reflection by the Dalai Lama on our universal responsibility for the human community: https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet02-xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com/5fe61bfd175b0/628157?X-Blackboard-Expiration=1614546000000&X-Blackboard-Signature=3j%2FTNsmG%2FjiKkM2VBHSGQtJjFrY3l%2FVGtonl%2FT4K7Yc%3D&X-Blackboard-Client-Id=100478&response-cache-control=private%2C%20max-age%3D21600&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27Dalai%2520Lama%2520-%2520Universal%2520Responsibility.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20210228T150000Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAZH6WM4PL5SJBSTP6%2F20210228%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=116a0f00bdb44783d9a3334c9cf3f7453c283013e9640de577a2e94592e0b2a1 ——————————————————————————— Community in African Indigenous Religions Community in African Indigenous Religions There is NO ONE African indigenous religion, but there are MANY diverse indigenous religious traditions in Africa. Africa is the second largest continent and the location of the earliest recorded human existence. It has more than 2100 languages and 3000 ethnic groups.* Although 80% of Africans today are Christians or Muslims, prior to their contact with these religions — and given the vast diversity of African peoples and cultures — Africans had a widely diverse array of their own vibrant religious beliefs and practices. So it is not possible to force all of these into a one-size-fits-all description. However, some ideas, beliefs, convictions, ethical principles, and values are widespread across many African traditions. One such value is LIFE: “[L]ife flows as a sacred gift from a loving Creator God. . . . [L]ife is considered the supreme treasure that should be reverenced, enhanced, sustained, and safeguarded.”** Another important value is COMMUNITY. The unfolding of life is possible only through relationships, beginning with the most basic community of the family and extending to one’s clan, village, and wider community. Living as fully human means participating in the network of all these relationships. John Mbiti discusses the significance of this sense of COMMUNITY. After providing a bit of background, he explains the importance of “the deep sense of kinship,” of family, and of community in African indigenous religions. Read especially pages 104-109, for a description of some of the powerful ways that community is lived and experienced in everyday life in traditional African cultures. * Amadiume, “Igbo and African Religious Perspectives on Religious Conscience and the Global Economy.” ** Groody, Globalization, Spirituality, and Justice. https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet02-xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com/5fe61bfd175b0/629227?X-Blackboard-Expiration=1614546000000&X-Blackboard-Signature=nTLnWRISENvrQO6mqlScCks4IYGGHPh%2BQiPaZin%2BWIA%3D&X-Blackboard-Client-Id=100478&response-cache-control=private%2C%20max-age%3D21600&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27Mbiti%2520-%2520African%2520Communities.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20210228T150000Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAZH6WM4PL5SJBSTP6%2F20210228%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=d8df72815184f65c38fead6c5a6941a732b0d088c3238e1a08aa4637a770bd63 ——————————————————————————————————— Declaration Toward a Global Ethic Declaration Toward a Global Ethic This declaration was published by the Parliament of the World Religions in 1993. According to its website, https://parliamentofreligions.org/about/mission, “The Parliament of the World’s Religions was created to cultivate harmony among the world’s religious and spiritual communities and foster their engagement with the world and its guiding institutions in order to achieve a just, peaceful and sustainable world. To accomplish this, we invite individuals and communities who are equally invested in attaining this goal.” As you will see, the document gives evidence of the commitment of peoples across the globe, from many different faith traditions, to the values of human dignity, community, social justice, peace, and concern for the environment. https://parliamentofreligions.org/publications/towards-global-ethic-initial-declaration Read especially pages 1 to the top of 9. Global Ethic PDF – 2020 Update.pdf Global Ethic PDF – 2020 Update.pdf
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