logo n1

Globalization for the Common Good: An Interfaith Perspective

Fifth Annual Conference
“The Quest for Identity, Justice, and Peace”
June 21-25 • Chaminade University • Honolulu, Hawaii

Our Honolulu Statement (2006)
Download the Fifith Annual Conference - Hawaii Declaration in Adobe .pdf format

Photo: bing.com

We came to this beautiful land of aloha, a place of harmony between sky, mountains, streams, and ocean. The land itself taught us gratitude and it is with humility that we give gratitude back to the land and people of Hawai’i. As we come now to the end of our stay, we challenge each other and all people of good will to stand together with Hawaiians as they work out their own story of identity and the renaissance of their culture. Theirs is an important lesson of travail and triumph in our global community.

The interwoven peoples that make up contemporary Hawai’i also hold an important truth to be learned by the rest of the world: that it is possible to create vibrant community among varied peoples and cultures if you pay attention to the dignity of each person and celebrate the richness of diversity.

In the Context of the Pacific Rim
We have benefited greatly from having our conference at this beautiful crossroads of the world. While all nations are affected by the financial currents and trade winds of global integration, the Hawaiian Islands, situated at the geographic center of the dynamic Pacific Rim, are particularly vulnerable to and shaped by these powerful global forces.

Globalization is a 21st-century reality. We believe, however, that global trade, finance, and monetary institutions and policies must be integrated with greater human and social development and ecological sustainability to ensure the material, economic, political, cultural, and spiritual well-being of the planet.

What is Globalization for the Common Good?
Globalization for the Common Good is dedicated to “rekindling the human spirit and compassion in globalization”. Globalization for the Common Good means the promotion of ethical, moral, and spiritual values – shared by all religious and spiritual traditions – in the areas of economics, commerce, trade, and international relations. It emphasizes personal and societal virtues. It calls for understanding and collaborative action – on the part of civil society, private enterprise, the public sector, governments, and national and international institutions – to address major global issues. Globalization for the Common Good is predicated on a global economy of sharing and community, grounded in a value system whose aim is generosity, the opportunity to contribute to society, and the promotion of a just allocation of the world’s goods.

Key Objectives

  1. To champion the highest cultural evolutionary values and aspirations of the early 21st century, in full awareness of their strategic interdependence:
    • Respect for belief in God, Ultimate Reality, or the One
    • The investment of spiritual capital
    • The practice of selfless love
    • Deep interreligious and intercultural dialogue and engagement for the common good
    • Cultures of peace and non-violent conflict resolution
    • Economic justice, social justice, solidarity, and universal human rights
    • Ecological sustainability, stewardship, and commitment to an interspecies ethic
    • Global empowerment of women
    • The rights of the child
    • The elimination of global hunger, thirst, preventable disease, and poverty
    • Cosmopolitanism: the harmony of local, national, and global citizenship.
  2. To seek solutions to the great challenges facing the planetary community:
    • The estrangement of global North and South
    • The urgent need for a restructured global economy
    • The increasing necessity of global public governance
    • The elucidation of a global ethic identifying the rights and the responsibilities of Earth’s people
    • The elimination of the scourges of actual and virtual slavery and torture
    • The creation of sustainable energy policies
    • The realization of planetary sovereignty by the peoples of the Earth
    • Cherishing and protection of the global commons
    • Commitment to service.
  3. To contribute to the creation of a global interdisciplinary agenda for the common good.

We thank Chaminade University of Honolulu for hosting this conference and for their example of generosity and kindness. They accomplished their goal of sharing with us the spirit of this unique place in ways that inspire us to live with a bit more humility and gratitude before the beauty and mystery of each other and of all beings with whom we share life.

Globalization for the Common Good 2006
Chaminade University
Honolulu, Hawaii
June 25, 2006