China needs to set its own moral priorities for the future
- Source: Global Times
- [23:45 February 20 2010]
- Comments
By Ding Gang
"Being Civilized" is now a catchphrase in China. It is believed by some people that the uncivilized habits of Chinese people will gradually decrease with the economic development. So there is no need to worry.
In fact, that habit had more to do with public sanitation and social etiquette than with the essence of civilization. Moral values are more important than personal habits in determining what constitutes "civilized behavior."
Without "prioritized morality," or the creation and long-time exposure to moral values, it would have been difficult to create the welfare states such as Sweden, where I lived for six years.
Not long ago, I read a report on the welfare models in Western society, categorized by four separate religious denominations.
In the UK, more than half the population belongs to the Church of England; in Northern Europe, about 85 percent of the population follows the teachings of the protestant Lutheran church; in Italy and France, 90 percent and 70 percent respectively is Roman Catholic.
The survey confirms the research findings of many scholars who have studied European social development: The main driving force for social reform comes from moral convictions, mainly love and humanity in traditional Western religions.
The establishment of religion in the Swedish model has important implications. Christianity was introduced to Sweden in 829, and in early 12th century, Sweden's parish system was developed. The introduction of Christianity brought about philanthropy. Many parishes established orphanages and psychiatric hospitals, called "insane asylums" in a less enlightened age.
While the church became a center for the poor, it also played a role in making moral decisions. For example, clergymen could punish the rich who refused to "pay for the poor" and expel them from the church.
More importantly, the Christian concept of "Love thy neighbor" and the spirit of mutual cooperation formed during the Swedish Viking period can easily produce a strong resonance.
There are two major factors behind this change.
First, the development of industrialization caused a large number of rural people to migrate to urban areas, resulting in the widened gap between the rich and the poor. Second, the church's authority had been greatly undermined by secular beliefs.
In 1847 and 1853, the Swedish government twice passed "Poor Laws," dictating, "It is the duty of each parish and city to ensure that every poor person is fed." The church's moral values were adopted by the social welfare framework, which in turn was taken over and expanded by the government.
