(Re)discovering the Common Good

OPINION: The Revd Canon Dr Robert Derrenbacker

Dean and Frank Woods Associate Professor in New Testament, Trinity College Theological School

The Revd Canon Dr Robert Derrenbacker

2020 saw many of us living under harsh lockdown restrictions, particularly those in Victoria, as we tried to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. It created tension between individual freedoms and community needs, and, to put it bluntly, between wealth and health. The Victorian government marketed its restrictions under the banner, ‘Staying apart keeps us together’. Underlying the restrictions – the ‘staying apart’ – was a concern for the Common Good.

The principle of the Common Good essentially affirms that actions – whether in economics, politics or public health – are conducted with the ‘good’ of society in mind. It is a principle rooted in ancient Greek philosophy (Aristotle and Plato), and can be traced through the Western philosophical traditions established by Aquinas, Locke, Rousseau and others. But it is also rooted in the theological principle of the ‘Golden Rule’ (‘Do unto others as you would have them do to you’), which we see in a number of the world’s religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism and Buddhism. In Christianity, it is particularly seen in the command to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’, an obligation that stems from the Hebrew Bible, but is also found in the teachings of Jesus and in the writings of St Paul and St James in the New Testament.

As a society, 2020 has tested our ability to adhere to the Common Good principle, to ‘do unto others’, and to ‘love our neighbours as ourselves’, with myriad examples of selfishness and individualism – think of the panic-buying and hoarding of toilet paper and other essentials, or the protests against mask-wearing.

But this year has presented opportunities and reminders to (re)discover a vision for the Common Good or, to put it more theologically, an opportunity to love our neighbours as ourselves, beyond ‘staying apart keeps us together’. Here are two examples.

First, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we witnessed a renewed call for racial justice. The Black Lives Matter movement has experienced a resurgence of sorts, starting with the tragic murder of George Floyd by police officers in the US city of Minneapolis in May. Protests spread globally, with many people speaking out for the first time against racial injustice and systemic racism. This movement became, and remains, an instance where we all have the opportunity to love our neighbours as ourselves by standing against systemic racism and standing up with our Black and Indigenous fellowcitizens, who have experienced injustice and discrimination for far too long.

Second, we have been reminded of our need to safeguard the environment. Lockdowns brought cleaner water to the canals of Venice and clearer air over the city of New Delhi. Our Earth became healthier as we consumed less. As a result, we are now able to see more clearly that the desecration of the environment is chiefly due to our own selfish consumption. The Christian environmental activist Bill McKibben puts it this way: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself. This always seemed like hard moral advice that very few of us were really able to follow. But in recent times its meaning seems clearer. Loving mainly ourselves – which is the definition of the high consumer society we inhabit – means creating a world that stinks. It’s a world that is getting steadily hotter, where almost all of us feel increasingly economically insecure. Jesus had it figured out: it only works when we’re in it together.’

At some point, we, as a society, will return to a post-COVID normal. It is my hope and prayer that when we do, we will not lose that sense of the Common Good that we have been reminded of so acutely during this pandemic.

In particular, it is my hope that the (re)discovery of the need for racial justice and the concern for the environment will not be lost – two crucial movements rooted in the essence of the Common Good and the love of neighbour as oneself.