Modesty is a positive virtue, handed down to us from religions

Laura M. Hartman

Research Summary

This scholarly essay reviews the virtue of modesty, recommended in various religions and philosophies since ancient times. Modesty often gets a bad press. It is associated with repression, especially sexism, where it takes the form of male-imposed coercion of females to dress restrictively and unfreely. This in turn is associated with the idea that women provoke men’s lust, a prejudice that we have turned away from in favour of holding men responsible for their actions. The writer recognises these difficulties but wants to promote modesty as a positive virtue nevertheless. She draws on mostly Christian but also Jewish and Islamic sources to recommend a modest attitude to dealing with other people and with the environment. Rather than unfreely being dominated by others’ demands, the form of modesty she recommends involves voluntarily holding back one’s power or consumption in order not to compromise others or damage the environment. She is particularly interested in environmental issues and sees parallels between modesty and permaculture. Those teaching about religion and the environment at GCSE or religious ethics at A level will find interesting material here. The material is suitable for presentation to and discussion with students, who could then refer to it in their written work.

Researcher

Laura M. Hartman

Research Institution

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh

What is this about?

The research is about modesty, an ancient virtue in various religions and philosophies. The writer reviews the discussions of modesty by influential writers such as St Thomas Aquinas and E.F. Schumacher.
She builds the argument that although modesty has something of a bad reputation in much of today’s world – for example, it is associated with sexist male insistence on control over women’s dress – it is a virtue worth recovering.
The reasons she offers in support of the recovery of modesty are that it enables people to have just and considerate relationships with one another and offers ways to protect and maintain the natural environment.
The definition of modesty which she develops is one where people voluntarily restrain themselves from displays of power (in its various forms) or acts of consumption.
She makes a particular connection between modesty and environmental concerns, finding that the form of modesty that she recommends is highly compatible with the practice of permaculture (an intensive form of agriculture or lifestyle based on working with rather than against local natural conditions).

What was done?

This is a scholarly essay, reviewing discussions of modesty in various influential religious and philosophical writings from ancient times to the present and finding reasons to recommend a modest approach to relationships with others and with the natural environment.

Main findings and outputs

Modesty’s positive qualities outweigh the negative sexist baggage it may bring. It matters to the future of all life.
Modesty is about power in relationships. Specifically, modesty is the voluntary restraint of power, for the the common good.
Aquinas relates modesty to one’s own well-being, but it has more to do with relationships. One’s actions have impact on others. Boasting may cause them to be envious or resentful. The theologian Cara Anthony writes that “Modesty keeps in check any form of self-assertion that comes at the expense of another person’s dignity or freedom.”
Modesty depends on context (the swimming pool is different from the high street); it should adapt to situations, but this should not mean that the powerful dictate it to the weak: unless chosen freely, it is not true modesty.
Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg calls for a ‘new’ modesty, for all to “behave with a sensitivity both to oneself and one’s deepest needs, and to one’s context, to the reactions of others; to love our neighbors as ourselves in our actions and in our interactions.” It is a form of compassion based on recognising the consequences of our actions.
Permaculture is an application of these principles to the environment. Humans should cultivate small areas in as caring and safe a way as possible.
Jewish and Muslim dietary restrictions may offer good examples simply by promoting sensitivity.
Generally, an emphasis on modesty can help to resolve many world problems.

Relevance to RE

Because religious attitudes to the environment feature in many syllabuses and specifications, the issues addressed in this essay already form part of the curriculum.
In GCSE courses on religion and the environment, the ideas presented in the essay could be presented to students in summary form and offered for discussion and debate. Is it true that we should restrain our power to create wealth? Is it true that small-scale production is more just and sustainable than large-scale trade? Do Jewish and Muslim dietary laws offer helpful examples to people?
Where environmental issues are not taught directly, the ideas about the importance of modesty could be applied to various other issues. Need a modest person be a vegetarian? Or: when does less mean more?
The concept of modesty itself could be analysed by pupils. What do they understand by it? When is it useful? When might modesty be less useful? This could take place in various RE contexts, including lessons about religious dress codes or moral principles. The pupils could be introduced to some of the beliefs discussed in the essay, at an appropriate language level (more able A level students could read and discuss the essay).

Generalisability and potential limitations

The discussion of modesty may be applicable to various situations, but as was mentioned above, the ideas in this article are probably most useful to teachers of religion and the environment courses at GCSE or religion and ethics courses at A level.

Find out more

Environmental Modesty: Reclaiming an Ancient Virtue, Journal of Religious Ethics 43.3 pages 475-492 (published online 22 July 2015), doi/10.1111/jore.12106

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jore.12106/pdf