Description and Mission Statement Upcoming Event: "The Military Ethics of Fighting Terror: An Israeli Perspective" Lecture by Israel Prize laureate Asa Kasher (Tel Aviv University) Hosted by Congregation B'nai Israel, Tustin, CA, April 6. Click here for more information.
To Support the Work of the ForumPlease Click Here (On-line Donation Available)
The Global Ethics and Religion Forum is an educational, non-profit NGO dedicated to increasing global ethical responsibility. Incorporated in 2001 and receiving US federal non-profit status in 2002, GERF is an international organization based in Southern California. The heart of the organization consists of some 60 distinguished scholars from around the world who provide the ethical and intercultural expertise for the Forum’s projects. GERF is guided by a twenty-one member Board of Directors which combines both academic and community/business leaders.
The scholarly expertise of the Forum is organized into an International Board of Consultants with experts in international law, economics, business and management, literature, agriculture, philosophy and world religions. World traditions like Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Islam, Baha’i, Judaism and Confucianism are currently represented among Board of Consultants’ members residing in China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, The Hague, England, Wales, Canada, and the United States. The Board of Directors also has a rich diversity of experience which includes the presidency of institutes of higher learning, university trusteeship, leadership in financial services and banking, expertise in management, law, medicine and film, as well as corporate ownership and religious leadership.
The Forum promotes global ethical responsibility by addressing specific issues such as human rights and responsibilities, war and reconciliation, race and gender, globalization and economic justice, ecological ethics and global medical issues through an intercultural and interreligious approach. The activities of the Forum are made widely available to the public through conferences, books and film. Forum conferences are open to the public and explicitly organized to make the interchange of ideas across traditions and among disciplines accessible to interested lay people, students as well as community members.
The Forum presents yearly conferences in Southern California and at Cambridge University, and co-sponsors conferences, primarily in Asia. Universities and non-profit organizations in Southern California with which the Forum has partnered include the University of California at Los Angeles; University of California, Irvine; Loyola Marymount University; California State University, Northridge; California Lutheran University; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Outside Southern California, the Forum has partnered with Marquette University; Cambridge University (Clare Hall), England; Payap University, Chiang Mai, Thailand; and the University of Gujarat, Ahmedabad, India. Many of the participants in these programs have also contributed to two book series. The first is the “Library of Global Ethics and Religion” which is published in Oxford, England and is now in its fourth volume, and the second is a new sequence of books on ethical issues in science, ethics and religion to be published by Cambridge University Press, with a first volume on “Global Medical Ethics.”
In the medium of film, the Forum has begun a documentary series, “Patterns for Peace,” focusing on local efforts for peace and harmony in specific regions which can be models for a more peaceful global community. The first two documentaries, “Patterns for Peace: India as a Model for Peace in a Multi-Religious Society” and “Global Voices for Human Rights” are due out in 2006.
With an inclusive and pluralistic orientation, the Global Ethics and Religion Forum neither emphasizes nor excludes the perspective of any particular World Religion, and the Forum endorses no specific political party or political affiliation. Some Current Projects
Human Rights
One current GERF project is a Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the World's Religions which can be viewed via the "Human Rights" navigation button in the left-hand column.
Ecology and Global Health (Click here for Program Details)
Our most recent international conference series was on "Ecology and Global Health," to be held at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Clare Hall, Cambridge University. To view program details for the conferences, please click on the link above.
Peace
A third current project is the production of a documentary series. The first documentary will be titled "Patterns for Peace: India as a Model for Peace in a Multi-Religious Society," and the second will be titled "Global Voices for Human Rights."
Justice and the Ethics of War
A fourth, and our newest, project is to develop a revised Just War Theory for the 21st Century. This will take into account multi-cultural and multi-religious perspectives. This revision of Just War Theory is intended to develop an ethics of war which explicitly addresses contemporary issues like international terrorism, the use of torture, weapons of mass destruction, humanitarian intervention, private military companies, and child soldiers. The first major event in this project will be a consultation among key participants at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, in early June 2006. This will be followed by the three-day symposium on "Religion and War" which the Forum is coordinating for the Global Congress on "The World Religions After 9-11," in Montreal, Canada, September 11-15, 2006. The director of the Global Congress is Arvind Sharma, a member of the Forum's International Board of Consultants, and the director of the symposium "Religion and War" is Joseph Runzo, the Forum's Executive Director.
This project to revise Just War Theory for the 21st Century will be initiated by the Forum's April 2006 event:
Upcoming Event: "The Military Ethics of Fighting Terror: An Israeli Perspective"
Lecture by Israel Prize laureate Asa Kasher (Tel Aviv University) hosted by Congregation B'nai Israel, Tustin, CA, April 6. Click here for more information.
Patterns for Peace:
India as a Model for Peace in a Multi-Religious Society
The Global Ethics and Religion Forum is in the post-production phase of making an extraordinary documentary of BBC quality entitled "Patterns for Peace: India as a Model for Peace in a Multi-Religious Society." This documentary will advance interreligious understanding with a focus on the multi-religious society of India and the heritage of Gandhi, bringing international attention to India's heritage of peace and nonviolence in an extremely diverse society.
In the wake of recent tragedies and violence around the world, it is essential that there be open discussion of paths which can lead us into a more peaceful and harmonious future. To move toward such a future, the international community can draw on India’s centuries of experience of diverse communities of Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, and Buddhists living together in peace, and on India’s deep religious and Gandhian heritage of nonviolence. This heritage has already touched the world, inspiring the fight against Apartheid in South Africa and the movement for civil rights in the United States, but it is needed now more than ever, as war and civil strife increasingly threaten our global community.
We have been able to respond to this need by collecting over 55 hours of outstanding footage for the documentary. This footage was shot by two exceptional young filmmakers primarily on location in the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Among the many people interviewed for the documentary are: His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama; Father Cedric Prakash, S.J., Director of the Center for Human Rights, Justice and Peace in Ahmedabad; a group of low caste singers from Rajasthan; the Maharaja of Jodhpur; Colonel Fateh Singh, who both fought the India-Pakistan wars and was a UN Peacekeeper in the Middle East; the Sikh economist Surjit Singh; and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, an 83 year old scholar of the Quran, internationally recognized for his dedication to issues of peace and interreligious understanding.
With the assistance of three outstanding film producers/writers--Emmy award winning producer David Garcia (producer at Universal Studios for 25 years with over 600 films, documentaries, and television episodes to his credit) producer Judith Mayotte, winner of two Emmys and a Peabody Award, and the distinguished documentary producer/writer Frank Kosa--we now have the opportunity to transform this incomparable material into a compelling, truly informative, and accurate documentary. (contact@GERForum.org)
To Support the Work of the ForumPlease Click Here (On-line Donation Available)
The Global Ethics and Religion Forum is an educational, non-profit NGO dedicated to increasing global ethical responsibility. Incorporated in 2001 and receiving US federal non-profit status in 2002, GERF is an international organization based in Southern California. The heart of the organization consists of some 60 distinguished scholars from around the world who provide the ethical and intercultural expertise for the Forum’s projects. GERF is guided by a twenty-one member Board of Directors which combines both academic and community/business leaders.
The scholarly expertise of the Forum is organized into an International Board of Consultants with experts in international law, economics, business and management, literature, agriculture, philosophy and world religions. World traditions like Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Islam, Baha’i, Judaism and Confucianism are currently represented among Board of Consultants’ members residing in China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, The Hague, England, Wales, Canada, and the United States. The Board of Directors also has a rich diversity of experience which includes the presidency of institutes of higher learning, university trusteeship, leadership in financial services and banking, expertise in management, law, medicine and film, as well as corporate ownership and religious leadership.
The Forum promotes global ethical responsibility by addressing specific issues such as human rights and responsibilities, war and reconciliation, race and gender, globalization and economic justice, ecological ethics and global medical issues through an intercultural and interreligious approach. The activities of the Forum are made widely available to the public through conferences, books and film. Forum conferences are open to the public and explicitly organized to make the interchange of ideas across traditions and among disciplines accessible to interested lay people, students as well as community members.
The Forum presents yearly conferences in Southern California and at Cambridge University, and co-sponsors conferences, primarily in Asia. Universities and non-profit organizations in Southern California with which the Forum has partnered include the University of California at Los Angeles; University of California, Irvine; Loyola Marymount University; California State University, Northridge; California Lutheran University; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Outside Southern California, the Forum has partnered with Marquette University; Cambridge University (Clare Hall), England; Payap University, Chiang Mai, Thailand; and the University of Gujarat, Ahmedabad, India. Many of the participants in these programs have also contributed to two book series. The first is the “Library of Global Ethics and Religion” which is published in Oxford, England and is now in its fourth volume, and the second is a new sequence of books on ethical issues in science, ethics and religion to be published by Cambridge University Press, with a first volume on “Global Medical Ethics.”
In the medium of film, the Forum has begun a documentary series, “Patterns for Peace,” focusing on local efforts for peace and harmony in specific regions which can be models for a more peaceful global community. The first two documentaries, “Patterns for Peace: India as a Model for Peace in a Multi-Religious Society” and “Global Voices for Human Rights” are due out in 2006.
With an inclusive and pluralistic orientation, the Global Ethics and Religion Forum neither emphasizes nor excludes the perspective of any particular World Religion, and the Forum endorses no specific political party or political affiliation. Some Current Projects
Human Rights
One current GERF project is a Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the World's Religions which can be viewed via the "Human Rights" navigation button in the left-hand column.
Ecology and Global Health (Click here for Program Details)
Our most recent international conference series was on "Ecology and Global Health," to be held at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Clare Hall, Cambridge University. To view program details for the conferences, please click on the link above.
Peace
A third current project is the production of a documentary series. The first documentary will be titled "Patterns for Peace: India as a Model for Peace in a Multi-Religious Society," and the second will be titled "Global Voices for Human Rights."
Justice and the Ethics of War
A fourth, and our newest, project is to develop a revised Just War Theory for the 21st Century. This will take into account multi-cultural and multi-religious perspectives. This revision of Just War Theory is intended to develop an ethics of war which explicitly addresses contemporary issues like international terrorism, the use of torture, weapons of mass destruction, humanitarian intervention, private military companies, and child soldiers. The first major event in this project will be a consultation among key participants at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, in early June 2006. This will be followed by the three-day symposium on "Religion and War" which the Forum is coordinating for the Global Congress on "The World Religions After 9-11," in Montreal, Canada, September 11-15, 2006. The director of the Global Congress is Arvind Sharma, a member of the Forum's International Board of Consultants, and the director of the symposium "Religion and War" is Joseph Runzo, the Forum's Executive Director.
This project to revise Just War Theory for the 21st Century will be initiated by the Forum's April 2006 event:
Upcoming Event: "The Military Ethics of Fighting Terror: An Israeli Perspective"
Lecture by Israel Prize laureate Asa Kasher (Tel Aviv University) hosted by Congregation B'nai Israel, Tustin, CA, April 6. Click here for more information.
Patterns for Peace:
India as a Model for Peace in a Multi-Religious Society
The Global Ethics and Religion Forum is in the post-production phase of making an extraordinary documentary of BBC quality entitled "Patterns for Peace: India as a Model for Peace in a Multi-Religious Society." This documentary will advance interreligious understanding with a focus on the multi-religious society of India and the heritage of Gandhi, bringing international attention to India's heritage of peace and nonviolence in an extremely diverse society.
In the wake of recent tragedies and violence around the world, it is essential that there be open discussion of paths which can lead us into a more peaceful and harmonious future. To move toward such a future, the international community can draw on India’s centuries of experience of diverse communities of Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, and Buddhists living together in peace, and on India’s deep religious and Gandhian heritage of nonviolence. This heritage has already touched the world, inspiring the fight against Apartheid in South Africa and the movement for civil rights in the United States, but it is needed now more than ever, as war and civil strife increasingly threaten our global community.
We have been able to respond to this need by collecting over 55 hours of outstanding footage for the documentary. This footage was shot by two exceptional young filmmakers primarily on location in the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Among the many people interviewed for the documentary are: His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama; Father Cedric Prakash, S.J., Director of the Center for Human Rights, Justice and Peace in Ahmedabad; a group of low caste singers from Rajasthan; the Maharaja of Jodhpur; Colonel Fateh Singh, who both fought the India-Pakistan wars and was a UN Peacekeeper in the Middle East; the Sikh economist Surjit Singh; and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, an 83 year old scholar of the Quran, internationally recognized for his dedication to issues of peace and interreligious understanding.
With the assistance of three outstanding film producers/writers--Emmy award winning producer David Garcia (producer at Universal Studios for 25 years with over 600 films, documentaries, and television episodes to his credit) producer Judith Mayotte, winner of two Emmys and a Peabody Award, and the distinguished documentary producer/writer Frank Kosa--we now have the opportunity to transform this incomparable material into a compelling, truly informative, and accurate documentary. (contact@GERForum.org)
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