On the Cultural and Moral Unification of Global Community

By Yang-Pyo Hong, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Kyungpook National University, Taegu, Korea

 

 

Our world is in serious crisis of life, also morals and cultures. Life, morals and culture are all related with life, and three kinds of expressions of life. Morals are called prescription, and culture is characteristic mode thinking and acting of life.  All problems, sins and crimes in our unhappy worlds stem from our misunderstanding and violations of law of life.

 

Life is communal or symbiotic and cosmological being. Our life maintains and prospers their existence "anthropologically" in the orderly moves of the cosmos which is  tens of billion' year old with diameter of tens of billion's light's year (Hawking). All living creatures are in "web of life" (Darwin), and living in symbiosis (sym-together, biosis-live) and commensalism (eat in same table) (Hawley). The Book of Diamond of Buddhism mentions of Ego, Men, Life and Existence of “communal life,” and then there cannot be egoism and ego-fixation. Jesus and Paul say also the communal being with the parables of vine and branches, and body and parts. Community consists of five elements: common goals, procedures, attitudes, beliefs and symbols. Above elements are related and led to common goals, which we should create and develop to ever higher ones in common cooperation of the world.

 

We live with many unhappy people, and the unhappiness is increasing in number and intensity. It makes us unhappy  and leads us to crisis. We are very proud of industrial and scientific-technological age, but we are more unhappy than primitive and rural society in some aspects (Mayo).  Suicide, divorce and family-breakdown, juvenile delinquency, violent crimes, pollution, terror, civil strife, war, weapons of mass destruction, and final probability of humane extinction are a series of unhappy and life crisis. And all of above problems are merged to moral degradation and broken peace. Let us give a few. Terror, pollution and wars are threatening all life of the world, in other words, the existence of earth and cosmos. Travelers of all air terminals are under tight investigation  on the assumption of terrorist, criminals, and infected patients. Terror and war deteriorate human morals and lead to global hatreds and mutual doubts without exception. Terrorists and war challengers kill not only others but themselves. Suppose that I am threatened, kidnapped and killed from next doors, the attackers are the worst than foreign invaders.

 

Life and morals and cultures are developmental in nature, and each processes and parts are as important  as final whole. For example, I grow and develop from selfish, but develop and extend the selfishness to family, village, country, world, life and existence of universe. The individual selfishness is as valuable as universe. No former is, then is no latter. "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul"? (Mark  8: 36) Buddha tells to dismiss ego-fixation, and leads to "no-ego," however his final teachings of great wisdom return to individuals. “Rely-upon-yourself and law, and make yourself and law a light.” For him, ego, non-ego, and community are one, not separated. All undesirable moral defects, such as hatred and wicked crimes are belonged to the non-developed parts and narrowness.

 

We are in the age of globalization, and to develop to globalize not only  in economics, but also in moral and cultural fields. The spirit of global trade and world market has already transformed and developed from 'reciprocal self-interest to peace relationship' (Kant, Habermas). In another words, this 'spirit of world trade cannot coincide with war.' NGO's such as MNC's and civilian bank systems neutralize national sovereignty, and lead to global network of stable peace.

 

We need to develop reasonable, categorical, distinctive-analytical-philosophy- knowledge to love and moral unity and wisdom. All religious scriptures must develop to new translation in change of life. Knowledge of philosophy has dealt with distinction and categorization, and then can hardly develop to cosmological and great charity (Claude Habib). Only a few philosophers such as Plato and Rousseau studied and concentrated to love and emotions of pity. Accordingly, we are required to think and include common noun of men instead of proper nouns of American, Iraqi, Bosnia and China.

 

All men are weak, and need to be helped and must be sympathized from others which is called pity or sympathy. It is one of most important human nature that we should restore.

 

Terrorism focused to destroy this human essential nature of sympathy of life. There are thousands of motives of the terror. Terrors like 9/11 and Hitler's Holocaust have motives but not causes which may be justified the terrors. Every incidents have motives, but not causes (Weber). Traders, children, many customers of WTO and Jews are not responsible to the claims of the terrorists, and 300 Spaniards are not invaders of Iraq. All the world are in same boat and sided to Americans, felt common brotherhood in 9/11. But also all the world opposed to U.S.-Iraqi War except a few political leaders of a few countries. The united nations of common noun did not approve the war. In order to kill a few suspected terrorists of Hussein group we cannot invade and kill innocent Iraqis, and neglect their free will of life.                                           

 

Moral and cultural unity with spiritual and religious fields are deadly needed for us. Pluralism in the age of democracy, individuality and community is a core of free world.

We can develop and approach to the ideal, but can hardly grasp what the ideal unity is. The concrete and absolute ideal might be so dogmatic that many dictators believed and forced it to people in totalitarian society. Therefore we may say "there are no good or beauty," (Plato, Symposium), "all are zero (naught, empty)" in Buddhism, “there is only One (God) who is good" (Matthew 19: 17). The over-consciousness of good and evil, or over simplification or sharp dichotomy by, such as, Crusade, Religious Fundamentalism, some of Marxism-Leninism, Kimism of North Korea are dangerous threatening to peace and democratic peace. They dichotomize too sharply of life and truth such as good and evil, friend and foe, rise and fall, winner and loser, and truth and falsehood. And then they feel "holy mission," given "Jihad" to fight and die for the good, and kill and exterminate other "evil-doers" (Hammas).      

 

Democratic society with its culture is contributed more to peaceful world and cultural unity. We have many valuable research papers and convincing evidences on 'democratic peace'. There are non or fewer wars between and among democratic countries than between and among authoritative regimes. Its core principles of individual dignity, primary of procedures and procedural good, peoples' consent and civil participation can hardly go to war-decision by a few leaders. First of all, we must open our mind to world, and hold open discussion, intercourse, and try to abstract and find shared values of institutions and moral cultures. 

 

Community principles are democratic themselves. We must transform or transcend our way of thinking from individual and divisive thinking of nationalism to communal or whole personal thinking of Zen, Kingdom of Heaven (Bible and Koran), or cosmological thought. We must see a drop of water, plant, worm, baby and nation together with all life and existence of cosmos, and Spirit and God behind them simultaneously. They are related each other, and become one.