11.06.09
Charter for compassion
Armstrong and Charter For Compassion
I am no fan of Karen Armstrong, but I would probably be well advised to wave the hand at her new initiative. So, by and large, I will. But this charter will have all the flaws of Armstrong’s treatment of the Axial Age, where she smeared together the diversity of culture and religion to make a sausage out of it. This tendency will vitiate her charter, no doubt.
Compassion is not really the common denominator of all historically given religion, and in cases where it is explicit the results are often paradoxical.
There’s worse, but a positive approach seems harmless enough.
So best to wave the hand, remembering only to remember the numberless dead in the name of compassion.
The Charter for Compassion will be unveiled on November 12, 2009. Its intention is to implement the Golden Rule globally. Karen Armstrong, the winner of the 2008 TED Prize and the inspiration behind the development of the Charter for Compassion, says that “the task of our generation…is to build a global community where people of all persuasions can live together in peace and harmony.”
Karen Armstrong, author of twelve books including the best seller, A History of God, points out “the centrality of compassion in all the world major faiths. Every single one of them has evolved their own version of what’s being called the Golden Rule. Sometimes it comes in a positive version – ‘Always treat all others as you’d like to be treated yourself.’ And equally important is the negative version – ‘Don’t do to others what you would not like them to do to you.’ Look into your own heart. Discover what it is that gives you pain. And then refuse under any circumstances whatsoever to inflict that pain on anybody else.”
Creating the Charter for Compassion took almost 2 years. The process began with a global partnership with organizations around the world. Well over 150,000 people from 180 countries contributed their own words to the Charter. It concluded with 18 renowned religious thinkers and leaders – a Council of Conscience – crafting the final version of the charter.
On the weekend of November 12-15, Karen Armstrong will call on the world to begin the grassroots movement to bring compassion to the center of religious, moral, and political life.