Values in Care

    Faith & Shared Values

    Shared human values, cited to each tradition's own voice.

    Start with your own faith tradition. Values in Care cites each tradition's own authorities and does not blend distinct beliefs into one interfaith position. As an optional avenue, we also point to cooperative interfaith bodies (the Parliament of the World's Religions, Religions for Peace, the United Religions Initiative) as a frame for shared humanity, never as a voice for any one tradition. Claims about a tradition cite that tradition's own sources where an approved source list exists.

    Values in Care is not an interfaith organization or faith-based service. Faith, culture, and worldview are optional context. Interfaith bodies are cited only for pluralism and dialogue, never to define a tradition. Tradition claims cite that tradition's qualified sources; a person's preferences are asked, never inferred.

    Print / Export transparency report

    Cooperative Bodies

    Parliament of the World's Religions · PoWR

    Founded 1893 (re-convened 1993)

    Visit

    A global interfaith convening organization whose current strategy emphasizes continuous interfaith collaboration, relationship-building, shared learning, and values-based action across religious and spiritual communities.

    Key Documents

    The Parliament's current Global Ethic presents five commitments: non-violence and respect for life; solidarity and a just economic order; tolerance and truthfulness; equal rights and partnership between women and men; and sustainability and care for the Earth. Values in Care uses this only as interfaith shared-ethic context, not as a clinical ruling for any tradition.

    PRIMARY SOURCE
    PENDING REVIEW
    The Global Ethic

    Religions for Peace · RfP

    Founded 1970

    Visit

    Multi-religious coalition advancing common action for peace, sustainable development, and human dignity.

    Key Documents

    Religions for Peace issues multi-religious statements supporting dignity in health, including end-of-life care and pandemic response, as a coalition position, not a tradition-specific ruling.

    EXPERT CONSENSUS
    PENDING REVIEW
    Statements & Declarations

    United Religions Initiative · URI

    Founded 2000

    Visit

    Global grassroots interfaith network of 'Cooperation Circles' that promote daily interfaith cooperation, end religiously motivated violence, and create cultures of peace.

    Key Documents

    URI's Charter establishes a decentralized structure built around self-organizing Cooperation Circles for grassroots interfaith collaboration.

    PRIMARY SOURCE
    PENDING REVIEW
    History and Charter

    Shared-Values Cross-Walk

    Values that appear across many traditions, expressed in each tradition's own terms and cited to its own authority. This is a starting point; full coverage is editorially in progress.

    Human Dignity

    The inherent worth of every person, especially in illness and dying.

    Roman Catholicism

    Catholic teaching holds that human dignity persists through serious illness, dependency, and dying.

    PENDING REVIEW
    Samaritanus Bonus (CDF, 2020)

    Islam

    Karāmah (intrinsic human nobility, Qur'an 17:70) extends to the seriously ill and dying.

    PENDING REVIEW
    AMJA Fiqh resources on end-of-life dignity (search 'end of life')

    Judaism

    Rabbinic health-care sources frame care for people who are ill and access to needed health care as communal obligations; individual treatment decisions require case-specific guidance.

    PENDING REVIEW
    Rabbinical Assembly: Health Care Source Sheet

    Compassion in Suffering

    Active accompaniment of the sick; presence as a religious and human duty.

    Buddhism

    Karuṇā (compassion): relieving suffering is a foundational practice; mindful presence at dying is sacred work.

    PENDING REVIEW
    Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama — Compassion & Human Values

    Protestant Christianity

    The ELCA's end-of-life social message emphasizes ministry and accompaniment while navigating treatment decisions near the end of life.

    PENDING REVIEW
    ELCA: End of Life Decisions

    Non-Harm (Non-Maleficence)

    Avoid causing avoidable suffering while weighing the harms and benefits of available options.

    Hinduism

    Ahiṃsā is a central Hindu principle of non-harm; its application to a medical tradeoff is contextual and should not be inferred from identity alone.

    PENDING REVIEW
    Hindu American Foundation: Hindus and Hinduism — Ahimsa

    Islam

    AMJA's contemporary medical rulings explicitly weigh benefits and harms in end-of-life treatment decisions; application remains case-specific.

    PENDING REVIEW
    AMJA: Rulings on Contemporary Medical Issues in Islamic Law (2023)

    Care Beyond One's Immediate Circle

    Traditions may frame care for people who are ill as a responsibility that reaches beyond immediate family or familiar groups.

    Judaism

    Bikkur cholim (visiting the sick) is a significant Jewish duty of care, and traditional guidance extends it across ethnic and religious groups.

    PENDING REVIEW
    My Jewish Learning: Visiting the Sick — Bikkur Cholim

    Sikhism

    Sarbat da bhala: wishing welfare for all; sewa (selfless service) to anyone in need.

    PENDING REVIEW
    SGPC: Sikh Philosophy