Parliament of Worlds Religion 1999 Capetown SA

Author(s): Parliament of the World’s Religions
Publisher: USA Parliament of the Worlds Religions

Page 72

A CALL TO OUR GUIDING INSTITUTIONS
DECEMBER . 99
the responsibilities of caring for one another's happiness.
instead of any form of possessive lust or sexual misuse.
Only what has already been experienced in personal and familial relationships can be practiced on the level of nations and religions.
d) The relationship between women and
men should be characterized not by patronizing behavior or exploitation, but by love, partnership, and trustworthiness. Human fulfillment is not identical with sexual pleasure. Sexuality should express and reinforce a loving relationship lived by equal partners.
IV. A Transformation of
Consciousness!
Some religious traditions know the ideal of a voluntary renunciation of the full use of sexuality. Voluntary renunciation also can be an expression of identity and meaningful fulfillment.
e) The social institution of marriage,
despite all its cultural and religious variety, is characterized by love, loyalty, and permanence. It aims at and should guarantee security and mutual support to husband, wife, and child. It should secure the rights of all family members.
Historical experience demonstrates the following: Earth cannot be changed for the better unless we achieve a transformation in the consciousness of individuals and in public life. The possibilities for transformation have already been glimpsed in areas such as war and peace, economy, and ecology, where in recent decades fundamental changes have taken place. This transformation must also be achieved in the area of ethics and values! Every individual has intrinsic dignity and inalienable rights, and each also has an inescapable responsibility for what she or he does and does not do. All our decisions and deeds, even our omissions and failures, have consequences.
All lands and cultures should develop economic and social relationships which will enable marriage and family life worthy of human beings, especially for older people. Children have a right of access to education. Parents should not exploit children, nor children parents. Their relationships should reflect mutual respect, appreciation, and concern.
Keeping this sense of responsibility alive, deepening it and passing it on to future generations, is the special task of religions.
To be authentically human in the spirit of our great religious and ethical traditions means the following:
We are realistic about what we have achieved in this consensus, and so we urge that the following be observed:
1
. We need mutual respect, partnership,
and understanding, instead of patriarchal domination and degradation, which are expressions of violence and engender counterviolence.
A universal consensus on many disputed ethical questions (from bioand sexual ethics through mass media and scientific ethics to economic and political ethics) will be difficult to attain. Nevertheless, even for many controversial questions, suitable solutions should be attainable in the spirit of the fundamental principles we have jointly developed here.
• We need mutual concern, tolerance,
readiness for reconciliation, and love,
1 999 PARLIAMENT OF THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS
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