Global Ethics and Religion Forum

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."

Revising Just War Theory for the 21st Century

"The Forum is in the first year of a five year project to develop a revised Just War Theory for the 21st century. This revision of Just War Theory is intended to produce an ethics of war that explicitly addresses new issues which have risen to prominence at the start of the 21st century, particularly international terrorism, humanitarian intervention, the use of child soldiers, the use of torture, and the employment of private military companies. The project will focus on ethics but will incorporate relevant historical, legal, political and cultural analysis, involving prominent ethicists, international lawyers, experts in international relations, experts in public policy, and scholars of the world religions.

"One dimension of this project, which sets it apart from most analyses of the legal and ethical issues involved in Just War Theory, will be a close attention to the contribution which the world’s religious traditions can make to understand the ethical dimensions of just warfare. If Just War Theory is going to succeed as a global ethic, then the major cultural and religious traditions of the world will need to have a sense that they can “buy into” the ethic. Additionally, the world religions can function as motivational support for adherence to the ethics of Just War Theory as a foundational aspect of successful conflict resolution and Just Peace.

"This proposed revision of Just War Theory is not only the next logical step forward in the contemporary academic discussion of the ethics of war, but is also intended as an important tool for policy makers. The objective of this project is to develop a revised version of classic Just War Theory that is appropriate to the context in which we find ourselves in the 21st century."

Directors

Accessed December 2008:

• Joseph Runzo, Ph.D. -- President of the Board
• Nancy M. Martin, Ph.D. -- Vice-President and Secretary
• Philip J. Rossi, S.J. Ph.D. -- Chairman, Executive and Planning Committee
• S. Huw Anwyl, Ph.D. -- Senior Minister/CEO Shepard of the Hills, Laguna Niguel; State Department Assistant for Implementing the Peace Accords in Darfur, Sudan; residence: Laguna Niguel, CA.
• John Berthrong, Ph.D. -- Associate Dean for Academic and Administrative Affairs and Director of the Institute for Dialogue Among Religious Traditions, School of Theology, Boston University; residence: Boston, MA.
• Javier Davila, M.D. -- Senior Partner, South Coast Infectious Disease Medical Center; Founding Director, American Indian Healing Center; residence: Orange, CA.
• Elliot Dorff, Ph.D. -- Rector and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University of Judaism; Lecturer, School of Law, University of California Los Angeles; residence: Los Angeles, CA.
• Navin Doshi -- Investments and Apartments; Founder, Navin and Pratima Doshi Chair in Indian History, University of California, Los Angeles; residence: Los Angeles, CA.
• Lindsay Falvey, Ph.D. -- Chair of Agriculture, University of Melbourne, Australia; Head or member, 100 missions for the Australian Government, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and the United Nations; residence: Melbourne, Australia.
• David Garcia -- Emmy Award-winning Producer, Executive, Writer, Director, Cinematographer, Educator; Head of Production, Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Chapman University; residence: Los Angeles, CA.
• Marc Corey Lee -- Vice President of Technology for TD Service Financial Corporation. Marc is also a successful singer and songwriter with the William Morris Agency whose original compositions and work with television have won him worldwide recognition.
• William E. Lesher, M. Div., Ph.D. -- Chairman of the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions; Past President, Lutheran School of Theology; residence: Berkeley, CA.
• James Lesieur III, M.B.A. -- Member, Board of Directors, Vineyard Bank; Former C.E.O., Sunwest Bank; Former Chairman, Habitat for Humanity, Orange County; residence: Newport Beach, CA.
• James Martin, J.D. (Vice President and Treasurer) -- Lewis and Roca, Attorneys at Law: residence Phoenix, AZ.
• Judith Mayotte, Ph.D. -- Member, Board of Directors, Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation; Emmy (twice) and Peabody Award-winning Producer; residence: Capetown, South Africa;
• Gnyandev Patel, M.D. -- CEO, Neha Medical Group; residence: Villa Park, CA.
• Ajeet A. Shah, CPA -- President, Ajeet A. Shah Accountancy Corporation; residence: Northridge, CA.
• Uka Solanki -- President and CEO Big Saver Foods; Founding Director Orange Community Bank; residence: Pasadena, CA.
• Elie Kaplan Spitz, J.D. -- Rabbi of Congregation B’nai Israel in Tustin; Adjunct Lecturer of Jewish Law at the University of Judaism; Member of the Bar Association in Arizona, California, and Massachusetts; residence: Tustin, CA.
• Nathan Tierney, Ph.D. -- Professor of Ethics, California Lutheran University, and founding partner of Philosophy in the Real World, an ethics consulting service; residence: Thousand Oaks, CA.
• Robin Wang, Ph.D. -- Associate Professor of Philosophy, Loyola Marymount University; Director, Women's Study Center, Beijing; Vice President, Association of Chinese Philosophers in America; residence: Los Angeles, CA.

International Board of Consultants

Accessed December 2008:

• Khaled Abou El Fadl (Islamic Law) Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Fellow in Islamic Law, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
• Krishna Ahooja-Patel (Women, Development and Human Rights) President, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Geneva, Switzerland; Director, Institute on Equity and Development, Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad, India; and Professor, St. Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Azyumardi Azra (Islam and Ethics) President, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, Jakarta, Indonesia; Editor, Studia Islamika
• Simone Bernhardt (Intercultural Dialogue and Conflict Prevention) Project Manager, Intercultural Dialogue and Conflict Prevention, Cultural Policy and Action Department, Council of Europe
• John Berthrong (Confucianism) Director, Institute for Dialogue Among Religious Traditions, and Associate Dean, Boston University School of Theology, USA
• Kerry Bowman (Healthcare and Ecology) Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine and the Coordinator of the Improving End of Life Care Project at the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics, Canada, and member of the Board of Directors for the Jane Goodall Foundation
• Michael von Bruck (Comparative Religion, Buddhism) Professor and Chair of Comparative Religious Studies, University of Munich, Germany
• Arindam Chakrabarti (Hinduism) Professor of Philosophy, University of Hawaii, USA
• Christopher Chapple (Hinduism and Jainism) Professor of Theological Studies and Director of Asian and Pacific Studies, Loyola Marymount University, USA
• Gerald Chan (Economics, Globalization, and China) University of Wellington, NZ, and Senior Fellow, Cambridge-RIIA China Project, Center of International Studies, University of Cambridge, UK, and Life Member, Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, UK
• John Chathanatt, S.J. (Christianity and Comparative Religion) Vidyajyoti College, Delhi, India
• M. Habib Chirzin (Islam) Director, Islamic Millennium Forum and Asian Muslim Action Network, Jakarta, Indonesia
• Novin Doostdar Publisher/Commissioning Editor, Oneworld Publications, Oxford, England
• Elliot Dorff (Ethics and Judaism) Professor of Philosophy and Rector, University of Judaism, USA
• Diana Eck (Comparative Religion and Indian Religions) Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies, School of Divinity, Harvard University, USA, Director, The Pluralism Project
• Lindsay Falvey (Ethics of Agriculture and Buddhist-Christian Dialogue) Chair of Agriculture, University of Melbourne, Australia
• Charlotte Fonrobert (Judaism and Gender Studies) Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Stanford University, USA
• James Fredericks (Christianity and Inter-religious Dialogue) Associate Professor of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University, USA
• H. Richard Friman (International Relations and International Political Economy) Eliot Fitch Professor of International Studies, Marquette University, Wisconsin, USA
• David Gosling (Religion and Ecology) Distinguished scholar of physics, environmental chemistry and ecology, Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge, England
• John Graham (Global Marketing and International Business Negotiations) Professor of Marketing and International Business at the Graduate School of Management, University of California, Irvine, USA
• Phyllis Herman (Hinduism and Gender Issues) Associate Professor of Religious Studies, California State University, Northridge, USA
• John Hick (Religious Pluralism) Fellow, Institute for Advanced Research in the Humanities, University of Birmingham, England
• Lawrence M. Hinman (Ethical Pluralism) Professor of Philosophy and Director of The Values Institute at the University of San Diego, USA
• Helen James (Ethics and Southeast Asia) Visiting Fellow, Asia Pacific School of Economics and Government and Department of Anthropology, The Australian National University, and Life Member, Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, UK
• Thupten Jinpa (Tibetan Buddhism) Director, Institute of Tibetan Classics, Montreal, Canada, and English Translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama
• Varsha Joshi (Indian History, Gender, and Economic Ethics) Associate Director, Institute of Rajasthan Studies and Fellow, Institute for Development Studies, Jaipur, India
• Asa Kasher (Judaism, Ethics of War and Medical Ethics) Laura Schwarz-Kipp Chair in Professional Ethics and Philosophy of Practice, Tel Aviv University, Israel; Editor Philosophia, the Philosophical Quarterly of Israel
• Tazim Kassam (Islam) Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Syracuse University, New York, USA and Chair of Islamic Studies Section of the American Academy of Religion
• Zayn Kassam (Islam and Comparative Religion) Associate Professor of Religion, Pomona College, USA
• James Kellenberger (Ethics and Religious Pluralism) Professor of Philosophy, California State University, Northridge, USA
• Abrahim Khan (Islam) Professor of Religion, University of Toronto, Canada
• William LaFleur (Japanese Buddhism) E. Dale Saunders Professor of Japanese Studies and Professor of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania, USA
• Brian Lepard (Comparative Religion and International Law) Associate Professor of Law, University of Nebraska, USA
• William E. Lesher ( Inter-religious Dialogue and Comparative Religion) Chairman of the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions, USA
• Julius Lipner (Hinduism and Christianity) Professor of Hinduism and the Comparative Study of Religion, Cambridge University, England
• Nancy M. Martin (World Religions, Hinduism, and Women in Religion) Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Chapman University, USA
• Judith Mayotte (Human Rights and Refugees) Visiting Professor of Theology, Marquette University, and member, Board of Directors, Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation; residence: Milwaukee, WI.
• Seumas Miller (Philosophy, Ethics and Politics) Professor of Philosophy, The Australian National University and Charles Sturt University and Director of the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
• Vasudha Narayanan (Hinduism and Gender Studies) Professor of Religion, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA, and former President of the American Academy of Religion
• Vivian-Lee Nyitray (Confucianism and Taoism) Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of California, Riverside, USA
• June O'Connor (Comparative Religion) Professor of Religious Studies, University of California, Riverside, USA
• Irfan Omar (World Religions and Islam) Assistant Professor of Theology, Marquette University, USA
• Kathryn Poethig (Religious Ethics, Global Gender Issues, and Religion, Violence, and Peacemaking) Assistant Professor of Global Studies at California State University, Monterey Bay, USA
• C. Ram-Prasad (Hinduism) Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies and Director of Postgraduate Research, Lancaster University, England
• Philip Rossi, S.J. (Christian Ethics) Associate Dean for Graduate Affairs and Professor of Theology, Marquette University; Trustee, Creighton University, USA
• Joseph Runzo (Comparative Philosophy of Religion and Religious Ethics) Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Chapman University, USA, and Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University, England
• Matthew Schneider (Religion and Literature) Associate Professor and Chair, Comparative Literature, Chapman University, USA
• Arvind Sharma (Ethics and World Religions) Birks Professor of Comparative Religion, McGill University, Quebec, Canada
• Yajneshwar S. Shastri (Hindu Philosophy and Ethics) Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, India
• Acharn Sulak Sivaraksa (Buddhist Ethics) Founder of International Network of Engaged Buddhists; Visiting Professor, Swarthmore College (Fall 2002) and Harvard University (Spring 2003)
• Huston Smith (World Religions) Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion and Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, Syracuse University, and Visiting Professor, University of California, Berkeley, USA
• Daniel Smith-Christopher (Biblical Studies and Peace Studies) Professor of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University California, USA
• Gerrie Ter Haar (Human Rights) Professor of Religion, Human Rights and Social Change at the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands.
• Nathan Tierney (Ethics and Philosophy of Religion) Chair and Professor of Philosophy, California Lutheran University, USA
• Philip Towle (International Security and International Relations) Professor, Cambridge University's Centre of International Studies, England
• Mary Evelyn Tucker (Religion and Ecology; Confucianism) Professor of Religion, Bucknell University, Pennsylvania, USA and Coordinator of the Forum on Religion and Ecology
• Thomas A. Turk (Business Ethics and Management) Associate Professor of Management, Argyros School of Business and Economics, Chapman University, USA
• William Wainwright (Philosophy of Religion and Asian Philosophy) Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA
• Junren Wan (Chinese Thought and Ethics) Professor of Ethics and Chair, Department of Philosophy, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
• Robin Wang (Chinese Philosophy and Ethics) Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Loyola Marymount University, USA
• Keith Ward (Christianity and World Religions) Regius Professor of Divinity, Oxford University, England
• Zhengxiang Wei (International Political Ethics) Associate Professor of Philosophy, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
• Dale Wright (Buddhism) David B. and Mary H. Gamble Professor of Religious Studies and Director of Asian Studies, Occidental College, USA
• Xinzhong Yao (Confucianism and Christianity) Professor of Confucianism, Department of Theology, Religious Studies and Islamic Studies, University of Wales, Lampeter

In Memory of

• Ninian Smart (1927-2001)
• Komal Kothari (1929-2004)
• Philip Quinn (1940-2004)
• David Chappell (-2004)
• Louis P. Pojman (-2005)

Contact

Web: http://www.gerforum.org