Today’s Enlightening Entertainment will be presented in Portuguese, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Thai and Spanish.

Everywhere in the world, we can observe and be touched by acts of kindness. People from all walks of life, faiths, and cultures extend themselves beyond the call of duty to help others unconditionally. Through their noble deeds, humanity as a whole is elevated.

To commend virtuous actions and encourage more people to be inspired by their examples, Supreme Master Ching Hai has lovingly created a series of awards, including the Shining World Leadership Award, Shining World Compassion Award, Shining World Hero and Heroine Awards, Shining World Honesty Award, Shining World Protection Award, Shining World Intelligence Award, and Shining World Inventor Award, to recognize some of the most exemplary, generous, caring, and courageous people who walk amongst us.

Father José Roque Junges is a Brazilian Jesuit priest who is an internationally recognized leader in the field of bioethics. He champions the need for behavioral change based on ethics and conscientious consumption.

At its core, a crisis is environmental, and in the end, an ethical crisis. And then I think that, for example, it is global warming, and this environmental crisis, it’s clear that it needs technical solutions, obviously, but I always defend that global warming won’t be solved only by technological means. You need a change in ethics, a change in behavior.

: Father José Roque Junges is a professor at the University of Sinos River Valley. He teaches younger generations the invaluable practices of making ethical choices in daily life that consider the impact on the greater environment.

The field of bioethics was developed in the 1970s with the American biologist Van Rensselaer Potter, who was highly concerned that humankind was developing too quickly technologically. Soon, the planet would be depleted, exhausted, and even destroyed. Dr. Potter believed that a new knowledge based on moral values needed to be developed alongside the technological advancements. Thus, he coined this new science “bioethics,” combining biological science with ethics.

Father Roque observes, from an ethical point of view, how human beings have interacted with nature throughout history. Unfortunately, it is a relationship that has not served us well.

We could say first that, of course, I think that there is a way of how human beings in the last decades, in the last centuries, treated nature and animals, is a totally inhumane and cruel way. I mean, human beings no longer have that harmonious relationship with nature like before, and that is the result of the modern way of life and of instrumental rationality which we apply to nature, where we transform everything into resources. Everything is a resource for us humans to use. I would say this is a chauvinistic anthropocentrism. An anthropocentrism in the sense that everything must serve humans.

There are several branches within environmental bioethics. Father Roque presents the thought of the preservationists who recognize the collaborative role of nature.

Now, the preservationists, I think they are much more coherent. They look more towards the symbolic and spiritual value of nature. That is, to preserve nature because nature makes the human being better. Because if humans know how to live with nature, they become better. So, preserving her is a moral necessity of humankind. It’s not a material necessity.

In addition, there are also biocentrists who recognize that humans as all other manifestations of life follow the same principle of reciprocity.

It means that no, you never have any valid excuse to cause any harm to an animal. It goes in line with the principle of you don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you. So, under these perspectives, the animal is a moral subject, not simply a moral object. A moral object depends on the human being. Now, if he is a moral subject, then it’s different. Then he has rights.

Ethics is also based in biology, as evolutionarily, all beings have been made from the same materials. This, Father Roque explains, is the basis for the need to have empathy toward fellow humans, and also for fellow life forms. It’s called the Earth ethic.

We are in fraternity with everything. What genetics tells us, what the genetic code tells us today, it proves that all living being have the same origin. So, we are all related as brothers. Now, if you start to realize that we are not only brothers to other humans, but if we have the same genetic heritage of any living being, then we should nurture the same feelings we have towards human beings. We should nurture them also for any living being, because they are also our brothers. We came from them, we are just the last link of the chain. So, this is “land ethic.” Earth ethic.

When we return, Father Roque is honored with the Shining World Hero Award for his advocacy of a caring lifestyle, including reduced meat consumption. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Welcome back to today’s program featuring Father Jose José Roque Junges, a bioethical leader and educator from Brazil who was honored with the Shining World Hero Award from Supreme Master Ching Hai. Father Roque upholds the importance of conscious consumption and moral values to guide our interactions with the environment.

I think that today, going to the supermarket and buying your stuff is actually an ethical issue today. I mean, you are assuming ethical options for what you buy, simply to eat. So, this issue of ethical consumption, it is something new, which I think that the new environmentalism proposes and goes to the core of the problem.

One important area of consumption humans face daily is our food choices. For example, in most cases, meat production is known to be the top cause of land use and degradation, water pollution, water shortages, biodiversity loss, and global warming. Fully aware of the impact that meat particularly has on the planet, Father Roque makes sure that his students are also informed.

In my classes, on bioethics, I always have a whole part on the environment in the first part of the semester. And then, closer to the end, I always show this video which is from the Nina Rosa Institute, which is “Weaknesses of the Flesh,” which is let’s say, a pondering of about half an hour, but it’s very strong, showing the problem of eating meat under three perspectives.

First of all, to eat meat or to produce meat is an ecological problem, because meat production, for instance, it needs deforestation. To begin with, it demands huge consumption of water and many other things. Secondly, the animal suffering issue is that all production processes we have for meat are processes that cause a huge pain to animals, yet we are not aware of it, because advertisement, the marketing, shows a cute piglet smiling, a chicken, or a turkey, everyone smiling. Yet we know the suffering that lies behind all that. Thirdly, there is the health issue also, because I believe that there is a myth that makes us believe that a human being needs meat.

For transmitting to his students and others high moral values which are needed for building a more just, compassionate, and harmonious society, Father José Roque Junges was honored with the Shining World Hero Award by Supreme Master Ching Hai. Father Roque accepted the award during a ceremony at the university.

“…For encouraging a more loving and sensible use of our precious limited resources and for your tender message to humankind, encouraging a quick change to an alternative diet towards sustainability, we hereby applaud and celebrate the noble actions of Reverend Father José Roque Junges, an inspiring Jesuit father, environmental hero, bioethical leader. With Great Honor, Love and Blessings, The Supreme Master Ching Hai”

In addition to the award, Father Roque was also presented with Supreme Master Ching Hai’s #1 international bestselling books, including “The Birds in My Life,” “The Dogs in My Life,” and “The Noble Wilds.” He also received a custom-fitted Shining World Hero T-shirt, and DVDs of Supreme Master Ching Hai’s lectures as well as her music CDs.

Furthermore, to encourage the ethical education of the precious youth, Supreme Master Ching Hai sent a contribution of US$5,000 toward the Loyola Foundation, which provides scholarships for students at the university where Father Roque teaches.

Thank you, thank you. First of all, of course, I must thank Supreme Master Ching Hai for giving me this award. Since the beginning, I didn’t think I was up to this award, but I am here to explain the reason of this awarding.

As for global warming, I asserted that the ones who will suffer the consequences of global warming are those who are not responsible for global warming, that is, the future generations, living beings, animals, any other living being who suffers the consequences, and the poor. This environmental crisis is also an ethical crisis. Therefore, we need to change the way which we interact with nature.

So, we need to change the way we consume. I mean, when I buy things, this brings consequences.

Those two products, cars and meat, as incredible as it may seem, are the main causes of the environmental issue. And for sure, if we are not willing to change our attitudes towards that, I believe that this environmental crisis won’t have any solution. I say it again, because the solution isn’t strictly technical. It has to be ethical and spiritual, and that’s certainly what Supreme Master Ching Hai also promotes.

Shortly after the award ceremony, Father Roque kindly sent a letter of gratitude to Supreme Master Ching Hai. The following is an excerpt: “Highly Esteemed Supreme Master Ching Hai, Still under the impact of the beautiful award ceremony that you have bestowed upon me…, I would like to express my deepest feelings of acknowledgement and gratefulness for the “Shining World Hero Award”.

For me, this was a total surprise at the choice of my name, since I do not fulfill anything extraordinary; only try to awaken between the students an ecological consciousness of a more ethical consumption that should reach one’s own diet. I acknowledge and thank the testimony of your solidarity and compassionate love towards human beings in need and to all living beings endangered and disrespected in their will to live.

I witnessed this love in your books and in the videos which were presented to me. Our civilization in crisis needs the message and the testimony of what you represent and propagate throughout the world.

Invoking the blessing, the grace and the divine love upon you and your works, I express my best sentiments of acknowledgement and gratitude. Respectfully yours, Pe. José Roque Junges S.J.”

Admirable Father Roque, we offer our sincere thanks and love for your courageous academic research and charismatic leadership with your students in encouraging the ethical approach toward our global environment. We join you in looking forward to the day that all humankind will live ethically and respectfully with our co-inhabitants and nature in this great planetary home.

Thank you, conscientious viewers for your company. Now please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television for Words of Wisdom, after Noteworthy News. May Heaven’s grace be with you always.