Sustainable Prosperity and Religiosity

Abstract

Our focus in this issue of the Journal is to investigate and affirm the bond between religion and sustainability and to throw light on the contribution of homo religiosus in the humanity’s project of moving toward sustainable societies. Despite the influence and efforts of modernism and rationalism, religion remains a fundamental dimension of human life and society and contributes to the construction and maintenance of sustainable prosperity and peace to people and planet. This issue of the Journal is a response to the premise that academia and industry, market and media should join hands with the political and religious institutions to bring about ethical policies with action plans to construct and sustain prosperity and peace for the people and the planet. As the Global Agenda 2030 reminds us, “We can be the first generation to succeed in ending poverty; just as we may be the last to have a chance of saving the planet. The world will be a better place in 2030 if we succeed in our objectives” (United Nations, 50). When the institutions of modernity – science and technology, market economy, and liberal democracy – failed to provide sustainable prosperity and peace for people and the planet, a return to religion is seen in many parts of the world, academia, and international policies. Religious perspectives are effective countercultural resources in the struggle for sustainable peace and prosperity, and engaging with them is imperative, logically and morally. It would certainly contribute to the construction of sustainable prosperity if homo religiosus follow their religious principles and practices.