Historian Karen Armstrong to Unveil Charter of Compassion
WASHINGTON: In more than two decades of studying and writing about world religions, historian Karen Armstrong, author of ‘A History of God’, ‘Faith After September 11’, and most recently, ‘The Case for God’, was repeatedly struck by the emphasis that all the great traditions place on compassion.
Whatever she was researching, this theme of compassion kept recurring — when she was examining a history of the idea of God in the three monotheistic faiths; in her study of the history of fundamentalism, where she found lack of compassion was the major flaw in these militant movements; and above all in her book ‘The Great Transformation’, which traced the history of the ‘Axial Age’ (c900-200 BCE), when all the great world faiths either came into being or had their roots, where compassion and nonviolence were so essential.
“It repeatedly struck me as sad that, despite this marvelous ideology, which should be of such benefit to our polarized world, religion is often seen as part of the problem, and secondary goals, such as doctrinal orthodoxy, often get more attention,” the British-born historian said in an interview to The Times of India on Tuesday.
In reality, the world is busy tearing itself to pieces over differences. So when she won the prestigious TED Prize in 2008, and with it was granted a wish for a better world, she proposed a Charter which would restore compassion to the centre of attention, could challenge the voices of extremism and hatred, empower people to demand compassionate speech/action, and make compassion audible in our troubled world. She calls it the Golden Rule that must now be implemented globally, “so that we treat all peoples as we would wish to be treated ourselves”.
On Thursday, Armstrong will unveil in Washington DC the Charter of Compassion, a “single document crafted by people from all walks of life, nationalities, beliefs and backgrounds with the intent to unify, inspire and bring compassion back into the hearts of society”. Thousands of entries from over 100 countries have poured in from the time Armstrong revealed her quest (at charterforcompassion.org) to build a global community “where people of all persuasions can live together in peace”...
Read entire article at The Times of India
Whatever she was researching, this theme of compassion kept recurring — when she was examining a history of the idea of God in the three monotheistic faiths; in her study of the history of fundamentalism, where she found lack of compassion was the major flaw in these militant movements; and above all in her book ‘The Great Transformation’, which traced the history of the ‘Axial Age’ (c900-200 BCE), when all the great world faiths either came into being or had their roots, where compassion and nonviolence were so essential.
“It repeatedly struck me as sad that, despite this marvelous ideology, which should be of such benefit to our polarized world, religion is often seen as part of the problem, and secondary goals, such as doctrinal orthodoxy, often get more attention,” the British-born historian said in an interview to The Times of India on Tuesday.
In reality, the world is busy tearing itself to pieces over differences. So when she won the prestigious TED Prize in 2008, and with it was granted a wish for a better world, she proposed a Charter which would restore compassion to the centre of attention, could challenge the voices of extremism and hatred, empower people to demand compassionate speech/action, and make compassion audible in our troubled world. She calls it the Golden Rule that must now be implemented globally, “so that we treat all peoples as we would wish to be treated ourselves”.
On Thursday, Armstrong will unveil in Washington DC the Charter of Compassion, a “single document crafted by people from all walks of life, nationalities, beliefs and backgrounds with the intent to unify, inspire and bring compassion back into the hearts of society”. Thousands of entries from over 100 countries have poured in from the time Armstrong revealed her quest (at charterforcompassion.org) to build a global community “where people of all persuasions can live together in peace”...