Corporate Watch
By Amelia H. C. Ylagan
Mercy and forgiveness in justice and injustice
“Have you done your corporate examination of consciousness? Are the poor in the mission-vision statement of your company? Are the underprivileged in society somewhere there, in your corporate decision trees as you deliberate on how much richer you can yet be? Are you living, not just mouthing, feel-good CSR (corporate social responsibility) as you pose for those photo-press releases of how generously you have given (tax-deductible, anyway) to the marginalized in society?”
His Excellency, Luis Cardinal Tagle was speaker at last week’s first-of-a-series of lectures to alumni of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), in the build up to the elite business school’s 50th founding anniversary in 2018. Opening ecumenical prayers by a Protestant, a Muslim, and a Buddhist set the theme of “Total inclusion in development.”
“I am sorry I am not an economist,” Cardinal Tagle said, “so, I will speak from my discipline (theology) — and of the basic foundation of human values in all religions and even non-religion.” He was speaking as leader and follower of the Catholic faith — for the 1960s ecumenical Vatican II Council under Popes John XXIII and Paul VI has re-defined “the Church” not as the hierarchy, but as the community of shared faith and values.
“Eight men own the same wealth as the 3.6 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity,” Cardinal Tagle said. The Oxfam anti-poverty report shows that “the gap between rich and poor is far greater than had been feared. It details how big business and the super-rich are fueling the inequality crisis by dodging taxes, driving down wages and using their power to influence politics. It calls for a fundamental change in the way we manage our economies so that they work for all people and not just a fortunate few (oxfam.org, 01.16.2017).”
At the annual gathering of the global political and business elites in Davos in January, two of those richest eight men in the world — Bill Gates (richest, with $75 billion net worth) and Michael Bloomberg ($48.8 billion) attended. “It is obscene for so much wealth to be held in the hands of so few when one in 10 people survive on less than $2 a day,” Winnie Byanyima, executive director of Oxfam International had said at a pre-launch conference (aljazeera.com, 01.17.2017).
“Poverty is not just numbers,” Cardinal Tagle said at the AIM conference. The statistics are a call to action for sharing and helping towards a more equitable distribution of wealth. Think about it, he asked — why do you have more, and some others, less? Could it have happened that you were born into the half of humanity that was poor? Having more is a big responsibility not only towards those who have less, but towards yourself, as you must even out the opportunities for the survival and well-being of all — otherwise your own extra wealth will cause you fear and anxiety for the maintenance of your power and influence.
Cardinal Tagle called for renewed personal attitudes and sensitivities in this rapidly changing world that has pushed materiality to the forefront of human activity. Those in higher positions of influence have the heavier responsibility for inclusive growth and development towards peace and equality in the world. Indifference or non-involvement is a sin of omission as grave as the commission of crimes against the laws of God and the laws of Men. There are many changes in society that must not alter fundamental human values. Globalization, rapid communication and ever-improving technology and knowledge have proven to have both advantages and disadvantages to inclusion and human development. It has exacerbated the culture of greed and individualism, and created the dubious New Normal for private/public ethics and morality.
The question was asked: in the context of Christian values of mercy and forgiveness, how and when do we protest against injustice and fight for the rights of the downtrodden? In exercising mercy and forgiveness for the transgressor, do we not slump into that non-involvement and effectively allow wrongs and injustices to thrive and replicate in more atrocious transgressions and impunities?
It is difficult to paraphrase Cardinal Tagle’s answer, which was too theologically technical for a simple Catholic mind and soul to process, if not only buoyed up by the simplistic “I believe even if I do not understand” faith that martyrs died for. Basically, Cardinal Tagle emphasized that the virtues of mercy and forgiveness do not conflict with justice, where personal forgiveness for the transgressor-perpetuator of the injustice resides in the heart, while the remedies under restorative justice (the laws of the land) must be carried through, to preserve the common good. It is the duty of Christians and all other religions to actively fight for this, as it is expressly the “Love your neighbor as yourself,” quite similar to the encompassing Golden Rule in all human relations, “Do unto others what you would have others do unto you.”
Cardinal Tagle, self-effacing as always, told a touching story relevant to his main pitch for sharing and giving material wealth towards inclusion of the less-privileged, as well as participating in the preservation of the common good by adherence to (and protest against) injustice and wrong-doing in society:
Driving down Quirino Avenue with a (rich?) friend, their car was stopped by the red traffic light, whereupon hordes of tattered young children descended upon them, offering various cheap goods in exchange for alms. Their driver quickly tapped on the glass window, shooing the kids away. All quickly moved to the car waiting behind, except for one boy, who suddenly shouted, “Cardinal Tagle!” in recognition of him. The driver again tapped on the window to shoo the boy away. “I told you we are not buying,” the driver said. “But I am not selling,” the boy said. “I am giving this to the Cardinal.”
Such is the pure generosity of a simple, poor young child. We can only solve our problems with the declining morality in our country with the purity of our minds and hearts to actively right what is wrong, and to give generously of ourselves and of our wealth.
Amelia H. C. Ylagan is a Doctor of Business Administration from the University of the Philippines.
