Comparative Religious Ethics

by Darrell J. Fasching (University of South Florida); Dell Dechant (University of South Florida)

• ISBN13: 9780631201250
• ISBN10: 0631201254
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-01-01
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

Comparative Religious Ethics breaks with the assumption that there is a uniquely "Christian" or "Buddhist" solution to an ethical issue, and reflects instead the way in which ancient stories from diverse religions have influenced contemporary ethical issues. This approach to religious ethics is designed to appeal to students, and the text is accompanied by a teacher's manual which shows how to use the book in conjunction with contemporary films such as The Long Walk Home, Casualties of War, Crimes and Misdemeanours, and Wall Street. The authors illustrate how ancient stories have been appropriated to provide ethical orientation in the modern world. They show how contemporary ethical activists such as Gandhi and the spiritual 'children of Gandhi' from diverse religious traditions - Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Joshua Heschel and Thich Nhat Hanh - drew upon ancient stories such as the Bhagavad Gita, the life of Jesus, the story of Abraham and the life of Buddha, and on traditional spiritual practices such as fasting, prayer and meditation, to forge a new inter-religious ethic of non-violence. This ethic responds to the prejudice, hatred and violence of the twentieth century as symbolized by Auschwitz and Hiroshima. The text places special emphasis on the ethical co-operation that emerged between religious traditions during the civil right-Vietnam war era. The challenge of Malcolm X to the non-violence advocated by these 'children of Gandhi' is discussed and emphasis is given to the feminist critique of religious ethics as providing a bridge between Eastern and Western religious ethics. The normative religious ethic that emerges is shown to be one in accord with the UN Declaration on Human Rights - an ethic of human dignity and human liberation. Please visit the accompanying website at: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/faschingdechant/

Author Biography

Darrell J. Fasching is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of South Florida where he has previously served as Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and as Chair of the Department of Religious Studies. He is the author of Narrative Theology After Auschwitz: From Alienation to Ethics (1992), The Ethical Challenge of Auschwitz and Hiroshima (1993) and The Coming of the Millennium (1996).

Dell deChant is Instructor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Religious Studies at the University of South Florida where he has taught since 1996. He is the Editor of the Journal of the Society for the Study of Metaphysical Religions.

Table of Contents

Preface	viii
Acknowledgments	ix
PART I POST/MODERN STORIES OF WAR AND PEACE	1	(72)
Introduction: Storytelling and Comparative Religious Ethics	3	(7)
Religion, Ethics, and Storytelling	10	(32)
Religion: The Sacred and the Holy	10	(11)
The Awakening of Ethical Consciousness: The Power of Religious Stories, East and West	21	(9)
The Great Religious Stories of the World--An Overview	30	(8)
A Postscript on Religious Language--A Word of Caution	38	(3)
Questions for Discussion	41	(1)
References	41	(1)
Stories of War and Peace -- Ancient and Post/Modern	42	(31)
Tales of Demonic Madness: From Auschwitz to Hiroshima	43	(3)
Auschwitz and Hiroshima: The Formative Religious Events of the Post/Modern World	46	(6)
Techno-bureaucratic Rationality and the Demise of Ethical Consciousness	52	(4)
Doubling and the Myth of Life through Death: The Spiritual Logic of Mass Death in the Twentieth Century	56	(8)
The Way of All the Earth: Global Ethics and Tales of Divine Madness	64	(6)
Questions for Discussion	70	(1)
References	71	(2)
PART II WAR AND PEACE: ANCIENT STORIES AND POST/MODERN LIFE STORIES	73	(192)
Introduction: Ethics After Auschwitz and Hiroshima	75	(9)
The Religious Quest and the Birth of Ethics	84	(20)
The Story of Gilgamesh: The Crises of Morality, Moratality, and Meaning	85	(6)
Urbanization, Doubling, and Death	91	(2)
The Story of the Trial of Socrates	93	(5)
The Socratic Invention of Ethics and the Way of Doubt	98	(4)
Questions for Discussion	102	(1)
References	103	(1)
Hindu Stories -- Ancient and Post/Modern	104	(31)
Cosmic Story: The Myth of Liberation	105	(5)
Formative Story: Arjuna and Krishna	110	(6)
Life Story: Mohandas K. Gandhi and the Way of Brahmacharya	116	(12)
Comparative Reflections: The Paradoxes of War and Peace	128	(5)
Questions for Discussion	133	(1)
References	133	(2)
Buddhist Stories -- Ancient and Post/Modern	135	(30)
Formative Story: Siddhartha	136	(8)
The Cosmic Story Revised: The Myth of Liberation	144	(8)
Life Story: Thich Nhat Hanh and the Way of Mindfulness	152	(9)
Comparative Reflections: Gandhi and Thich Nhat Hanh	161	(2)
Questions for Discussion	163	(1)
Resources	164	(1)
Jewish Stories -- Ancient and Post/Modern	165	(32)
Cosmic Story: The Myth of History	166	(8)
Formative Story: The Audacity of Job	174	(11)
Life Story: Abraham Joshua Heschel and the Way of Audacity	185	(6)
Comparative Reflections: Heschel, Gandhi, and Thich Nhat Hanh	191	(3)
Questions for Discussion	194	(1)
References	195	(2)
Christian Stories -- Ancient and Post/Modern	197	(30)
Formative Story: Jesus of Nazareth	198	(7)
The Cosmic Story Revised: The Incarnation of the Word	205	(6)
Life Story: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Way of the Cross	211	(11)
Comparative Reflections: King, Heschel, Gandhi, and Nhat Hanh	222	(3)
Questions for Discussion	225	(1)
References	225	(2)
Islamic Stories -- Ancient and Post/Modern	227	(38)
Formative Story: Muhammad	228	(7)
Cosmic Story: Further Revisions of the Myth of History	235	(6)
Life Story: Malcolm X and the Way of Pilgrimage	241	(13)
Comparative Reflections: Just War or Non-Violence?--Malcolm X's Argument with the Gandhian Tradition	254	(9)
Questions for Discussion	263	(1)
References	264	(1)
PART III THE WAY OF ALL THE EARTH	265	(50)
Introduction	267	(1)
Feminist Audacity and the Ethics of Interdependence	268	(29)
The Feminist Challenge to the Myths of Life through Death	269	(5)
The Feminist Alternative: Interdependence and the Ethics of Care	274	(5)
Life Story: Joanna Macy and Buddhist Ecofeminism	279	(6)
Life Story: Rosemary Ruether and Christian Ecofeminism	285	(9)
Conclusion	294	(1)
Questions for Discussion	294	(1)
References	295	(2)
The Way of All the Earth	297	(18)
The Story of Babel: From Ethnocentrism to Interdependence	297	(3)
Ecofeminism and the Ecology of Conscience	300	(10)
The Way of All the Earth	310	(3)
Questions for Discussion	313	(1)
Reference	314	(1)
Index of Subjects	315	(6)
Index of Names and Terms	321