Executive Director Virginia Straus Invited
to Participate in Discourse on Civility
"There is a continuum between the moral universe and etiquette," Professor Ninian Smart, J. F. Rowny Professor of Comparative Religions at the University of California at Santa Barbara, asserted. Dr. Smart presented remarks on "Sacred Civilities" in mid-November during a multi-part lecture series sponsored by the Boston University Institute for Philosophy and Religion.
"Civility is important," he continued, "because it means treating others as persons. It includes gentleness. When a religious overlay is placed over secular behavior, an action can become one of praise or prayer. A sacred civility occurs," Dr. Smart observed, "when a person contains within himself the nature of Christ (or Buddha or whomever)."
The prolific author went on to note that the sacred civility he was discussing differs from Martin Buber's notion of "I-Thou" in that it is performative , that is, it is based on the premise that one must act in a certain way. Civil behavior, Dr. Smart concluded, is continuous with one's spiritual life.
Virginia Straus, the second speaker on the afternoon's program, addressed the topic, "Making Peace: International Civility and the Question of Culture." She set forth a preliminary definition of civility as a set of behaviors involving polite speech, good manners, and respect for the other person that allows a community of strangers to live together peaceably.
The BRC executive director went on to enlarge the definition to include among its features: (1) the capacity to regard one's fellow citizens with good will and accord them dignified treatment and (2) the capacity to give precedence to the common good over individual self-interest.
"The one international body with multiple functions that includes all nation-states and does have a moral foundation is the United Nations and the agencies making up the U.N. system," Ms. Straus indicated. "In practice, the U.N.'s effectiveness in pursuing its goals has been limited by the reluctance of nation-states to cede any degree of their sovereignty to the U.N. by giving it the necessary powers of enforcement."
Where, then, might the best hope for international civility lie? The BRC executive director suggested that we should look to the international civil society organizations (CSOs) which share a concern for human well-being across national boundaries and now number more than 30,000.
"The challenge being mounted by civil society organizations working alongside U.N. structures," Virginia Straus suggested, "holds out the greatest hope for the emergence of civility in the international order. This people's movement has staying power and the qualities of global citizenship which embody the essential qualities of international civility: they put the common good of humanity above parochial interests and they uphold a standard of human dignity and humane behavior in the international order."
What is most interesting in contemporary affairs, Ms. Straus continued, is the alliance that is beginning to take shape between CSOs and broader cultural resources, most particularly religions. "In my view," she asserted, "religions are taking on a role here, seeking in part to atone for past involvement in fomenting war, but also to express the spiritual yearnings of their adherents for world peace."
A culture of peace is evolving, Straus suggested, that is replacing the dominant culture of violence and war. In fact, she reminded the audience, the U.N. is establishing the International Year for the Culture of Peace as the theme for 2000 and encouraging initiatives worldwide to celebrate the year.
Quoting the poet Denise Levertov, the BRC's executive director concluded by urging that all of us should become the metaphorical voice from the dark and that we should carry out the work of peace: "A voice from the dark called out,/"The poets must give us/imagination of peace, to oust the intense, familiar/imagination of disaster."
During the question and answer period on issues related to civility, moderated by associate dean for academic and administrative affairs at the School of Theology John H. Berthrong, students suggested that there should be an increased emphasis in curricula on multiculturalism as a means of countering strategies that rely on stereotypes. They also suggested that there is a kind of double standard among both individuals and communities with respect to justice and revenge, and that war crimes tribunals may, in fact, be more about hatred than about justice, remorse, or reconciliation.
The multi-part series on civility will continue at Boston University through April of 1999.
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