By Prof. W. Cole Durham, Jr. President of the G20 Interfaith Forum Association.
In this profound exploration of the intersection between faith and climate action, we examine how the forgotten virtue of reverence could be key to addressing our environmental crisis. Through the lens of ancient Greek philosophy and modern religious thought, this piece argues for the vital role of the Faith Pavilion at COP29 in rekindling reverence as a universal virtue that transcends religious boundaries and could fundamentally reshape our approach to climate change.
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Introduction
It is a distinct honor for me to be able to speak at the Faith Pavilion of the 29th Council of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (for short: the Faith Pavilion at COP 29.) My thanks to the organizers for their initiative and efforts to organize the second Faith Pavilion held at a COP event, and for reasons that will become evident in the course of my presentation, I hope this can become a recurring feature of future COPs.
In my remarks this morning, my aim is to advance a distinctive reason for thinking that successive COPs will benefit from and in fact deeply need a Faith Pavilion to strengthen the clarion call for climate reform emanating from each successive COP. This “distinctive reason”—the need to renew the forgotten virtue of reverence—is far from being the only reason for advocating continuation of the Faith Pavilion, but it is an important one. I will also explain why I am convinced that the G20 Interfaith initiative has parallel value and parallel impacts. I will then conclude with a brief summary of significant practical ways that religious voices can affect COP and G20 processes. These considerations are somewhat abstract, but hopefully underscore the importance of fostering a Faith Pavilion at the COP.
The Forgotten Virtue of Reverence
My starting point is to draw on a wonderful little book by philosopher Paul Woodruff entitled Reverence: Renewing a Forgotten Virtue. As an expert in classical Greek philosophy, Professor Woodruff began to recognize some time ago that the great thinkers of Greece attached a significance to reverence that we moderns seem to have forgotten. At the outset of his book, he states, “Reverence is an ancient virtue that survives among us in half-forgotten patterns of civility, in moments of inarticulate awe, and in nostalgia for the lost ways of traditional cultures.”
Reverence is not merely about being quiet in church, or more generally, about attitudes of religious believers. In Woodruff’s view, reverence is a universal human capacity or virtue. It is evident in the lives both of believers and non-believers, and sometimes, paradoxically, even in the lives of individuals who pride themselves on being irreverent. The important point is that reverence needs to be recognized as a universal human trait and as a virtue that should not be forgotten.
As Woodruff portrays it, “reverence begins in a deep understanding of human limitations; from this grows the capacity to be in awe of whatever we believe lies outside our control—God, truth, justice, nature, even death. The capacity for awe, as it grows, brings with it the capacity for respecting fellow human beings, flaws and all.” Thus, “the Greeks saw reverence as one of the bulwarks of society.” “To forget that you are only human, to think you can act like a god—this is the opposite of reverence.” In our time, the arrogance of assuming that we can ignore nature and engage in its endless exploitation reflects precisely this forgetting of reverence.
“Ancient Greeks thought that tyranny was the height of irreverence, and they gave the famous name of hubris to the crimes of tyrants.” Woodruff points out that much of Greek tragedy is really about hubris, the core of irreverence. It is no surprise, then, that the chorus in Greek drama has so much to say about reverence. For these reasons, Woodruff maintains that “reverence has more to do with politics than with religion… power without reverence—that is a catastrophe.” Unfortunately, that is precisely what we see unfolding. Power that seeks to manipulate religion for mere political gain, or religion that panders to power for the sake of economic or social gain, is an affront to reverence. To counter such trends, we need more of true reverence.
Woodruff traces this theme through many settings relevant to modern society which cannot be explored in detail here. For my purposes, three connected points need to be emphasized:
The first is that reverence is a virtue that is vital for any human society—particularly any democratic society—that hopes to flourish. Democracy provides rich political machinery for weaving together the diverse values of pluralistic societies into harmonious communities. But the output of that machinery can rise no higher than the vision, the dreams, and the aspirations of the people. That which is highest in this regard emanates from moments of reverence in individual lives. Reverence is crucial to the moral striving and envisioning that is essential if democracy is to become more than a chaos of self-interest.
Second, reverence is the best reminder that human things, including states, need to be subjected to limits. The experience of authentic reverence, widely disseminated in the populace, is the best safeguard against the counterfeits of demagoguery. The ideal of the rule of law—that we should be ruled by law and not men—reflects the two sides of what we learn from reverence: that there are things that transcend the human domain, and that human institutions need limitations.
Third, reverence is particularly vital to the flourishing of modern pluralistic societies. Here reverence is vital in pointing the pathway to respect. We may not fully understand the beliefs that other people hold, but we can resonate with their sense of reverence, and when we do, we come to respect them in deep ways that make pluralistic democracy possible. A society filled with people and subcommunities showing each other such respect can take maximal advantage of the synergies of life in a pluralistic society. In contrast, efforts to use state power either to impose or to exploit religion can only breed resentment and patterns of distrust. Conscience coerced is conscience denied.
The Faith Pavilion and the Revitalization of Reverence
My contention today is that one cannot satisfactorily address the issues at stake in COP29 (and subsequent COPs) without recognizing and renewing the forgotten virtue of reverence, and that the Faith Pavilion is uniquely placed to fulfill this role. Let me explain why.
First, it is important to recognize that reverence can be experienced in many different ways, meaning that it may undergird a broad range of religious or non-religious viewpoints. Reverence is not an antidote to pluralism, but a guarantor of respect for deeply held though differently grounded values. It is a reminder that in human affairs, though limitations are necessary, societies are more stable and more just if they assure protection of different manifestations of reverence.
Second, Woodruff’s work is drawn from the field of virtue ethics, rather than the more traditional consequentialist or deontological (rights-based) theories that have dominated much of the resurgence of philosophical ethics over the past fifty years and which undergird much of economic and environmental analysis. Virtue ethics constitutes an alternative approach to the ethical domain. This development in moral philosophy goes back to a famous article by G.E.M. Anscombe entitled “Modern Moral Philosophy” that was published a little over fifty years ago. Sometimes referred to as the “aretaic turn” in moral philosophy, because of its focus on human virtues and excellences (arête), this approach goes back to classic republican theory and to the ancient Greeks, particularly Aristotle. Where deontology and utilitarianism tend to focus on rules and ethical actions, virtue ethics focuses on moral character, moral education and moral wisdom. Instead of focusing on the particular rules that should guide conduct, virtue ethics pays attention to the cultivation of various character traits that are needed if ethical, abundant and flourishing life is to be attained at the level of the individual and society.
The virtue of reverence is foundational for work on climate issues in particular and on the relationship of human beings to our environment more generally. In preparation for attendance at COP 29, I carefully read Laudato Si, the Al-Mizan document, and the update to Laudato Si issued shortly before COP 28. One cannot read these documents without sensing ways that reverence for creation undergirds and pervades these works. Paragraph 1.1 of Al-Mizan opens by affirming that “the unutterably vast and glorious cosmos reflects the all-transcendent glory of God… Each thing that God has created is a sign of His power, wisdom, and grace, and… we care for it in reverential awe for its Lord.” We are enjoined to cultivate the “attitude of taqwa: profound awareness and reverence toward the Lord of all beings, coupled with utmost care and carefulness in our treatment of His creation.” In order to cultivate reverence, and have a genuine grasp of what is at stake with environmental issues, people need “to be immersed in nature so as to experience the joy and beauty of the natural world.” Further, “the ritual practice of Islam provide a profound grounding in spiritual and ethical values, especially in that attitude of reverence, care, and carefulness that is taqwa.“
Similarly, Laudato Si’ is filled with references to the reverent awe which undergirds appropriate reactions to the environmental crises of our time. Chapter 2, which focuses on the “Gospel of Creation”, is infused with recognition of the role that reverence plays in understanding “the mystery of the universe” and “the message of each creature in the harmony of creation.” Moreover, what the Pope refers to as the “Globalization of the Technocratic Paradigm,” amounts in essence to a lament that technology has overwhelmed the human capacity for reverence. The brief update provided in Laudate Deum was essentially aimed at refuting assertions that climate fears were exaggerated and urging COP29 to reach more aggressive outcomes. But this document also underscored the importance of reverence. Thus, “Jesus ‘was able to invite others to be attentive to the beauty that there is in the world because he himself was in constant touch with nature.” It also refers to the “Judaeo-Christian vision of the cosmos” which defends “the unique and central value of the human being amid the marvellous concert of all God’s creatures.”
I could go into much greater detail, but the point is an important one. These key religious pronouncements on the climate crisis do more than assemble data confirming the scope of the problem. They recognize that our world has lost the virtue of reverence. This is something that must be rekindled and strengthened if we are to succeed in generating the political will to take the steps that are needed. Otherwise the technological paradigm criticized by Pope Francis is likely to continue its dominance with only relatively minor tweaks until it is too late. Without reverence, there is no effective response to the hubris of the technological paradigm. As Woodruff warned, “power without reverence—that is catastrophe.”
The Role of the G20 Interfaith Forum
Like the Faith Pavilion, the G20 Interfaith Forum provides a platform that can help mobilize forces that can revitalize reverence. In making this claim, I need to stress again that reverence is not a virtue of any particular religion or belief. We may not fully understand much less agree with the religious or other beliefs of different individuals or groups. But we can understand the role that the virtue of reverence plays in their lives and the reality of respect that this understanding engenders.
Reverence is not the only virtue our times require, but it is a virtue that can open the door to dialogue and cooperative efforts. Moreover, it a character trait that is particularly vital if we are to overcome the hubris that assumes we can go on maximizing consumption and technocratic exploitation of nature indefinitely. We urgently need settings in which technocratic and religious expertise can engage in effective dialogue. Too often the religious insights linked to reverence are simply overlooked entirely. Initiatives such as the Faith Pavilion here and the G20 Interfaith Forum help to solve this dialogical impasse. Among other things, such settings can contribute to the ability of religious believers and policy experts to find a common language effectively reflecting each others’ ultimate concerns.
Reverence, Religious Voices, and the COP Process
At this point I want to conclude by mentioning just a few of the ways that a revitalized and renewed virtue of reverence can contribute to the COP and the broader G20 processes. (The G20 process, it is important to remember, covers a much broader array of issues than climate.)
First, strengthening the virtue of reverence can facilitate dialogical exchange. One might expect that an intensified sense of reverence associated with one’s own beliefs would cut off dialogue. But in fact, one’s own experience with reverence can help sensitize one to forms of reverence that others experience, thus providing a stable basis for respectful pluralism.
Second, people adhering to one belief system have much to learn from others about the ways other groups are implementing their own response to reverence for creation, stewardship, etc. Among other things, differing religious communities may have identified a diverse range of practical ways that they can address climate (or other) issues. These can be shared, thereby expanding practical impact.
Third, one might expect that experiences of reverence might be forceful, but too vague to generate consensus on practical projects. In fact, recognition that reverence may be grounded in different experiences may nonetheless create a basis for trust, willingness to collaborate on common problems, and ability to form new bases for constructive efforts.
Fourth, people who experience reverence in very different ways with different focal points may be led to respect for new and different positions. They may interpret their experiences of reverence in different ways. They may discover, for example, that people who are ostensibly exclusively secular have their own forms of reverence, no doubt called by other names, but deserving respect. The reverse situations may also hold.
This list could be expanded virtually indefinitely simply by starting to list all the myriad ways that people seek to implement reverence-based ideas that may address climate challenges, but that would add impossible length to this paper.
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Prof. W. Cole Durham, Jr., is the President of the G20 Interfaith Forum Association, the immediate past President of the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies(ICLARS), and Susa Young Gates University Professor of Law and Founding Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS), at the J. Reuben Clark Law School of Brigham Young University. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, and is a founding Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion.