Autumn 2021, Volume 48
Features
Religion’s Potential for Advancing Sustainable Development
In its resolution entitled the 2030 Agenda, the United Nations declared in 2015 that “The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are blueprints to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all humanity by 2030.” SDGs, in contrast to the earlier Millennium Development Goals, offer a holistic understanding of development, and address most of the global problems the people of the world face, including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, economic disparity, and peace and justice. Members of the international community are all encouraged to build a holistic platform to achieve the Agenda’s central promise “to leave no one behind.”
Given that 80 percent of the world’s population is estimated to hold religious affiliation, governments and international and local civil actors acknowledged the importance of religion and persons of faith in advancing SDGs, and have established partnership guidelines for cooperating with them. To “achieve a better and more sustainable future,” religion, whose original purpose is guiding humanity to be caring for others, is increasingly recognized by the international community as a useful human resource, rather than an obstacle.
In the face of the current global challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial for all people—both religious and non-religious—to broaden the perspectives of their strategies to achieve SDGs, as it is estimated that the pandemic could push the number of people living in extreme poverty to over one billion by 2030.
At Dharma World we will consider religion’s potential for advancing sustainable development practices. How can people of religion activate the potential of religion for the purposes of sustainable development work? How can they develop faith-based strategies to encourage sustainable development by being faithful to their own traditions while remaining open to, and tolerant of, those of others? What activities or projects are being developed by people of religion, either individually or through collaboration with other religious or non-religious people, both locally and internationally?
We would like to identify and explore aspects of religion and the practices of religious communities that can advance the global goals of sustainable development.
The SDGs and the One Vehicle of the Lotus Sutra
by Yoshie Nishi
Since every being in this world is an emanation of the great life force of the universe and is of equal value and dignity, we should respect the unique individuality of each and cherish the potential of every person.
Religions, Gender, and SDG 5: Barriers and Drivers for Change
by Emma Tomalin
Religion plays a role in shaping attitudes and behaviors with respect to gender roles, identities, and relationships in ways that have an impact on women’s ability to participate in the activities of their religious traditions fully and equally.
Reasons That Religions Matter in/to Peace and Security, and the Considerations of the “How To”
by Azza Karam
To assume a clear divide between secular politicians and religious leaders is to ignore the interlinked realities that have existed for centuries.
The SDGs, Food, and Faith
by Makio Takemura
Highlighting what meals should really be like from a religious perspective can potentially make a major contribution to reducing food loss and waste, and this is one important way in which religion can contribute to the attainment of the SDGs.
Reconsidering the SDGs in Light of Grassroots Socially Engaged Buddhism
by Jonathan S. Watts
The first step religious groups need to take is to clarify the conceptual problems and structural limitations of SDGs. . . . Without doing so, they cannot promote an authentic civilsociety movement that truly serves the people rather than state and corporate agendas.
Fostering a World Free of Inequalities, Injustice, Poverty, and Violence The Role of Religion
by Indunil Janakaratne Kodithuwakku Kankanamalage
A reform is necessary because the axial revolution is under constant threat by those who want to use the religious classics of their traditions to supplant universalism and fraternity with particularism and tribalism.
The Covid-19 Pandemic—A Rude Awakening to Sustainable Development: Toward Interreligious Engagement for Inclusive Citizenship
by Fadi Daou
[The] unintentional absence of governmental policies and communication of the specific needs of certain communities—usually minorities—because of their sociocultural specific cities and religious backgrounds is called invisible diversity.
Reflections
Living Thoughtfully
by Nichiko Niwano
Rissho Kosei-kai Buddhism
The Lotus Sutra’s Prescription for Sustainability: The Ten Suchnesses as the Ultimate Reality of All Things
by Dominick Scarangello
When we understand them as a system of causation, the ten suchnesses are quite useful for making sense of the events and experiences of our lives by identifying the causes of problems in our lives and helping us design a plan of practice to attain liberation from suffering. Examining things from the standpoint of the ten suchnesses reveals how events and experiences arise, how they produce results and lasting effects that impact our lives, and, most importantly, how we can change ourselves and our environment for the better and become happier and healthier people.
