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A Mounting East-West Tension. Buddhist-Christian Dialogue on Human Rights, Social Justice & a Global Ethic PDF

255 Pages·2009·3.108 MB·English
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A Mounting EAst–WEst tEnsion http://avaxhome.ws/blogs/ChrisRedfield KEith soKo A Mounting EAst–WEst tEnsion Buddhist-ChristiAn diAloguE on huMAn rights, soCiAl JustiCE, & A gloBAl EthiC Marquette stuDies in theoLogy no. 66 anDrew taLLon, series eDitor © 2009 Marquette University Press Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201-3141 All rights reserved. www.marquette.edu/mupress/ founded 1916 Library of Congress CataLoging-in-PubLiCation Data Soko, Keith, 1957- A mounting East-West tension : Buddhist-Christian dialogue on human rights, so- cial justice & a global ethic / Keith Soko. p. cm. — (Marquette studies in theology ; No. 66) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-87462-743-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-87462-743-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Human rights—Religious aspects—Buddhism. 2. Human rights—Religious aspects—Catholic Church. 3. Buddhism—Relations—Catholic Church. 4. Catholic Church—Relations—Buddhism. 5. Human ecology—Religious aspects— Buddhism. 6. Human ecology—Religious aspects—Catholic Church. I. Title. BQ4570.H78S65 2009 261.7—dc22 2009030242 Cover Design anD art by CoCo ConnoLLy The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences— Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. table of contents Preface .........................................................................................................9 Acknowledgements .....................................................................................10 Introduction ...............................................................................................11 Chapter 1: ..........................................................................................................19 The Concept of Human Rights & Its Importance Chapter 2: ..........................................................................................................67 Human Rights & the Individual in Current Buddhist Thought Chapter 3: ........................................................................................................111 Human Rights & the Individual in Current Roman Catholic Thought Chapter 4: ........................................................................................................163 Eco-Justice: The Necessity of Ecological Duties as a Correlate to Human Rights Chapter 5: ........................................................................................................209 A Global Ethic Conclusion..........................................................................................................229 Works Cited .......................................................................................................233 Index ..................................................................................................................251 Those who say that religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion means. – Mohandas K. Gandhi PrEFACE The initial motivation for this study can be traced back to my undergraduate years in religious studies, where, intent on finding answers to “the big question” of God’s existence, I felt “sidetracked” by having to take courses in other world religions. Those courses eventually altered the question from “Does God exist?,” al- though always a healthy nagging doubt, to the question “What is God like?” Primarily, Hinduism and Buddhism offered Eastern worldviews which often contrasted, yet also often complemented, my own Roman Catholic upbringing. My own fascination with Buddhism stems from its radically different religious concepts, on one hand, (no God, no soul, no self, no personal afterlife, at least at first glance), to its often similar ethical insights with Christianity, on the other hand. Life, even if the answer to the “God question” was “Void” or “Emptiness,” was not nihilistic, but was ethical. This interest in Buddhism and in comparative ethics was put into sharper focus by my dissertation director’s suggestion for an earlier study to focus on “human rights.” This initial comment provided the direction for this study as well, which includes multiple interests of mine. The concept of “human rights” combines religious aspirations with political ramifications. An intellectual and spiritual interest in comparative religions, along with a practical and moral concern in comparative ethics, was now wed to global concerns for social activism and justice. Thus, one is reminded that religion has never been merely an intellectual endeavor, but is a way of life, as in the Eastern concept of dharma. Despite the prominence of the concept of “human rights” in this study, by its completion the “secondary” issue of “ecological duties” was looming larger and larger. It is one of my hopes that this study will aid in bringing the concept of human rights into greater dialogue with overall concerns for the environment. In addition, by reviewing the past and present work of Roman Catholic authors involved in human rights advocacy and interreligious dialogue, I hope to acknowledge the Catholic, and in that sense “universal,” contribution in these endeav- ors. May the spirit of these earlier authors continue on in this study

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