Towards a Global Ethic: An Initial Declaration

Towards a Global Ethic, An Initial Declaration, drafted principally by Hans Kung and endorsed by the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1993, is the primary document itself, signed by more than two hundred religious and spiritual leaders representing over forty traditions, stating shared ethical commitments, including a version of the golden rule, that the drafters argued could be found across the world's religions despite their doctrinal differences. Its strength is that it is the actual text these leaders signed, so a claim about what the declaration says can be checked against its own words rather than a paraphrase, and its drafting process itself, extensive consultation across traditions before the 1993 Parliament, is a documented and citable part of interfaith history. Its limit is that the declaration states shared aspiration rather than binding doctrine, and not every tradition or leader within each tradition endorsed it, so it should be read as one influential interfaith initiative, not as evidence that its ethical claims are universally held.