Affirmation

THE FOLLOWING AFFIRMATION WAS DEVELOPED BY THE

THOMAS JEFFERSON PLANNING DISTRICT COMMISSION

Affirmation

for Interdependence, Respect, and Responsibility: An Ethical Framework for Sustainable Future

Preamble

As people with differing beliefs, we travel on different paths:

reverence for a creator and the creation inspires some of us;

a realization of interdependence through enlightenment moves others;

Whatever our starting point in faith or belief, we have reached consensus on the following, and fully endorse its relevance to human condition:

All life is connected.

No life is lived alone.

Humans, animals, and plants depend upon each other through an interdependent web of physical and spiritual relationships.

Because each life influences all life, human prosperity is bound with the fate of all the earth.

We Believe

that we are only one part of life;

that all parts are precious;

that we are each responsible for every part.

We are called to appreciate the wonder of life,

to recognize its inherent value, and

to respect the right of all living things to live through mutually beneficial relationships.

Our purpose is to care for life,

to be concerned for ourselves, our families, our friends,

and all living beings of the present and future.

Our response as individuals and communities should be service to other people and other species,

not to harm or destroy anything indiscriminately,

to share the earth limiting our space,

creating and preserving places for all life to flourish,

through awareness, cooperation, justice, and love.

Signed this 22 day of September, 1997, by the members of the Interfaith Roundtable on Sustainability

Sponsored by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. Funded by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy Hand set with movable type from the McGuffey Arts of the Book Center.

The goal of the affirmation above: "....is to provide a shared ethical framework for individuals and organizations to consider the impact of their policies and objectives on the sustainability of the region."(1) A "shared ethical framework" is exactly what The President's Council on Sustainable Development (the Council is sighted in other documents from the Thomas Jefferson District Planning Commission) meant when they said "....an explicit ethic of stewardship - care for all creation, for all time - would enrich understanding of sustainable ways of living, would provide grounds for choosing the most moral among the many alternative ways of living sustainably,...."(2) Just what is "the most moral among the many alternative ways"? Is a government appointed board of clergy/nonclergy to decide what is "the most moral"? The Roundtable is an on going process. They have yet to state which moral direction they will take, but the President's Council has stated: "The Native American concern for the seventh future generation has become a widely embraced example of the commitment to sustainability." They also state "Eastern and Native American religious traditions are rich with respect for the Earth."(3) No mention of Christian, Jewish, Moslem?

The Roundtable states "No group will be asked to approve the statement. Rather, each will be asked by the Roundtable to hang the document in a prominent place for public observance."(4) If hanging the statement on the wall is not an approval then why is Judge Roy Moore in court? Have we become so addle minded as to think that what is hung on our walls is not a preference of the owner of that wall?

The Roundtable states: "Four definitions were provided to the Roundtable at the first meeting:" [Two were from the Thomas Jefferson Sustainability Council Indicators of Sustainability Interim Report, one was form the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., and the fourth was from the World Bank.] The question: how did they decide on a definition of sustainability? The answer can be found in the report written by The President's Council on Sustainability titled Education for Sustainability: An Agenda For Action ISBN 0-16-048783-8.. On page one the report we read: "SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, AS DEFINED BY THE BRUNDTLAND COMMISSION in 1987, is 'development that meets the need of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.' ....The President's Council on Sustainable Development's definition of sustainable has been broadened to include social equity." The Brundtland Commission was organized by the United Nations. The President's Council on Sustainable Development was organized by Executive order as a "....mechanism for furthering the implementation of sustainability as expressed in Agenda 21, the plan of action agreed to by national governments at the Earth Summit Conference held in Rio in 1992. The NCSD (National Council for Sustainable Development) concept legitimizes the role of civil society as a partner with government in making policy for implementation of the sustainable development agenda and to move it from agenda to action."(5)

A connection from a five county Interfaith Roundtable in Virginia to the United Nations Earth Summit Conference held in 1992 has been made. Is it important to you? Should it be? Do you stand in the light of truth or the light of enlightenment?

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1. Interfaith Roundtable on Sustainability Report 1: Affirmation for Interdependence, Respect, and Responsibility. December, 1997. (Page1)

2. Population and Consumption Task Force Report, President's Council on Sustainable Development. (Page 49) 202 408 5296. U.S Government Printing Office: 1996-404-680-40004

3. Ibid (Page 48)

4. Interfaith Roundtable on Sustainability Report 1: Affirmation for Interdependence, Respect, and Responsibility. December, 1997. (Page II)

5. Frequently asked questions about NCSDs. Written by The Earth Council -