The Charter For Compassion

For those of you who have already watched Karen Armstrong: Revive the Golden Rule you are familiar with her call for bringing compassion back to the forefront of religion. A former Catholic nun, Armstrong is a religious historian and has written numerous books on comparative religion. On February 28, 2008, Armstrong won the TED Prize, which is given annually to three exceptional individuals. In addition to receiving $100,000 in prize money, Armstrong was also granted “One Wish to Change the World”. These wishes have lead to collaborative initiatives whose impact reaches across the globe. Armstrong’s wish: to create, and implement, a “Charter For Compassion” that would establish a moral common ground between the faiths and all of humanity. This moral common ground that she speaks of is more commonly known as the Golden Rule. This initiative is an attempt to help the world recognize each other’s humanity, and dissolve the religious fundamentalism that has risen in all of the world’s religions. On November 12, 2009, the “Charter For Compassion” will be revealed to the world.Creating the Charter For Compassion was no easy task. Armstrong felt it was important to give people around the world an opportunity to contribute their thoughts and ideas on compassion and tolerance. Over the past year, more than 150,000 people from over 180 countries submitted their views and experiences onto the charter’s website, which was available in four different languages. To give you an idea of the writings, I have included the bellow submissions from the website:

“There is no simple expression of the Golden Rule. Versions consisting of words are always incomplete. Words always have spaces between them. Words always involve a process of translation and interpretation. An essence of the rule must include an acceptance that within self-awareness lies the possibility of finding common ground with others. In pursuing knowledge of oneself and knowledge of others, for the sake of creative harmony, let there always be doubt, always be love and in one’s deeds always compassion.” -Josh Kutchinsky/Secular/Nonreligious/United Kingdom

“Religion is simply different ideas of how God manifests himself to us. We must all endeavor to understand these different revelations of God and hence come to the common understanding that the one thing we can all agree about God is that he is not evil or hate, but that he is love and thus we should also be love. Governments must abandon the notion that secularism means we deny God a presence. Because some people believe in God and its potency, we should all pay it some attention for the primary purpose of understanding. All children should be compelled or at the very least encouraged to learn about all other faiths to create the understanding and tolerance that enables the crux of religion to arise in us; Love Good, hate evil. Remember, the common understanding of Evil we have is simple: evil is what we would never wish to happen to ourselves. Good is the light of God or positive forces in us that enables us to show good will and compassion; that allows us to recognize the value of the human being.” -Iyinoluwa Aboyeji/Christianity/Nigeria

“If we do believe in God then we also must believe in the brotherhood of mankind. How then can we not feel it when some of our bothers of sisters are in pain? This compassionate feeling is what drives us to act and it is in acting that we are free. We may not be able to measure the results of our individual action but as a group we shall surely be able to help humanity and in helping humanity we are also helping ourselves and providing for a sustainable future.” -Chandrabhan Sharma/Hinduism/Trinidad and Tobago

The online writing took place in late Fall 2008, up until February 2009 when they were collected and handed over to the Council of Conscience to craft the final document. The council met for three days in Vevey, Switzerland, and was composed of eighteen influential religious figures from five of the world’s major religions. The council sorted though ideas based on support it was getting form different religions. The council’s main priority was to produce a document that would help set the standards for interreligious cooperation, and build a global community where people of different persuasions can live in peace and harmony.Website: www.charterforcompassion.org