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Recently
I received an e-mail from an old friend of mine from Boston,
U.S.A., who, referring to my lecture at the Notre Dame University,
wrote: to achieve an all-encompassing spirituality as you
described in your lecture, there must be a complete transformation
of humanity; man must become true man.
Indeed,
one of the complex problems facing humanity today is the way
the human beings perceive and fulfill themselves. Man distorted
the image of God at the very moment when he questioned his
imperfection and failed to respond to God’s call for
responsible stewardship and accountability. According to biblical
teaching, every human being bears the burden of original sin.
In the course of time, original sin has acquired new dimensions
and manifestations. A general diagnosis today will identify
among many the following trends that destroy the image of
God in human being:
1) Human
claim for self-sufficiency. Striving for self-sufficiency
is a human desire arising from the urge to satisfy basic human
needs. Every individual, organization or community aims for
self-sufficiency in all spheres of life. However, this inherent
desire turns evil, when it becomes a source of arrogance and
superiority; when it is abused and misused as a means to achieve
absolute and uncontrolled power; when it oppresses, overpowers,
and impoverishes. Taken in its exclusive sense, self-sufficiency
also generates unilateralism and hampers progress. It leads
to self-centeredness and self-isolation.
Hence,
the endeavor for self-sufficiency must aim at self-reliance,
creativity and progress. It must be undergirded by ethical
values. Otherwise, it may undermine the dignity of human being,
violate human values and rights, ignore human obligations,
and jeopardize the unity of society and the integrity of the
creation.
An exclusivist
understanding of self-sufficiency distorts the image of God
in human beings and becomes rebellion against and alienation
from God.
2) Human
drive for absolute liberty. In theology liberty means freedom
from the bondage of sin. It is therefore a God-given gift
and vocation. In social and political language liberty implies
breaking the chains of oppression, which is a fundamental
component of human rights. Hence, liberty is both an ethical
and political imperative. The human being is called not only
to exercise fully his liberty but also to become its advocate.
Human
societies are facing two contradictory trends:
First,
oppression of liberty. In many societies, the individual and
community, civil and political, economic and religious liberties
are being denied or reduced. To violate liberty is to sin
against God, for it undermines human dignity and jeopardizes
God’s image in the human creature. Liberty belongs to
all humans and societies. No worldly power has the right to
suppress the liberty of an other. This gift of God must be
equally shared by all, without any distinction or discrimination.
Second,
the human claim for absolute liberty. Today, the term liberty
has become identical to greed, limitless acquisition of power
and justification for new values. The exercise of liberty
in its absolute and exclusive form and expression has increasingly
become a political tool and a dominant trend of technologically
advanced, morally permissive and economically globalized societies.
For such societies, liberty has no limits and limitations.
This is
indeed a misconception of liberty. Liberty must be sustained
by moral values and be expressed responsibly within the framework
of laws and regulations to help people make appropriate choices.
Liberty must not become a goal in itself but only a means
to attaining a quality of life driven by a sacred purpose.
Absolute liberty belongs to God. Human beings must recognize
and accept their imperfection. Claiming perfection and absoluteness
is a denial of God.
3) The
human rejection of accountability. Being human means being
accountable. Human beings are created by God and are accountable
to their Creator. Human beings are given particular responsibility
in the created order. As God’s stewards and co-workers,
they are accountable to God.
Accountability
both in its vertical and horizontal dimensions is an essential
component of human nature. Its rejection generates evil: human
denial of his stewardship towards the creation has resulted
in environmental degradation; human disobedience to law and
order in society causes violence; human failure in accountability
disrupts families, destroys organizations and threatens the
fabric of society.
Accountability
applies both to those who are denied power and particularly
to those who are in power and who exploit and exclude the
powerless. It is an interactive process between the powerful
and the powerless. Lack of accountability on both sides leads
to violence.
Accountability
does not oppress, it liberates; it does not marginalize, it
empowers; it creates sense of mutual responsibility and belonging
to each other. Accountability encourages interaction and interdependence;
it builds community. Accountability is a source of progress
and success.
To reject
accountability is to ignore the other and, therefore, practice
the arrogance of power. To reject accountability is to reject
God’s presence in the human being through His image.
*
* *
Claim
for self-sufficiency, exercise of absolute liberty and rejection
of accountability endanger the creation, destroy community,
disintegrate society and create violence.
The world
of today is suffering from this chronic selfishness. Cosmetic
approaches and short-term remedies will further deepen and
intensify it. Time is running short. We need new paradigms,
new value systems. This ill may be cured if human beings become
consciously aware that they carry in them the image of God.
The way to authentic humanness is commitment to:
–
mutuality over against self-centeredness;
– vulnerability over against arrogance;
– empowering over against overpowering;
– inclusiveness over against exclusiveness;
– accountability over against unilateralism;
– responsibility over against domination;
– participation over against marginalization;
– education over against ignorance.
When such
common values are developed in our own selves, in our families,
in our public life and in all aspects and domains of our individual
and community life, then all sorts and forms of ills, which
shake the very foundations of societies, will disappear, and
"man’s inhumanity against man" will be transformed
into man’s true humanity towards God, towards creation
and towards his and her fellow human beings.
These
values transcend religious, cultural and ethnic identities
and barriers. When common values are in jeopardy, they must
be addressed through common efforts, locally and globally.
Youth
have a major part in wrestling with these concerns and challenges.
Youth have a particular role to play in advocating these values
in societies in dire need of humanization.
ARAM I
CATHOLICOS OF CILICIA
20 March
2007
Antelias-Lebanon |
