Karen Armstrong's Wish for Charter of Compassion Comes True

Visit tedprize.org to help grant these wishes! Photo: Andrew Heavens/TED2008 Lucky for the world, Karen Armstrong is one woman who doesn’t have a problem asking for what she wants.  Armstrong has been tagged the “runaway nun”. How can you not embrace a woman like that!!!

Last year Armstrong’s TED wish was for the creation of a Council of Compassion. Read my May 2008 post Imagine: John Lennon, Pangea Day, and a Council of Compassion.

The great news is that Karen Armstrong’s wish has come true at a time when the world desperately needs her vision.

Like the simple mantra of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that says: “All Lives Have Equal Value”, the Charter of Compassion believes that the principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves.

Outside the Sydney Opera House, an ecumenical group holds the Yves Béhar-designed plaque for the Charter for Compassion.The details of Charter of Compassion and a signup page is here.

No money is involved, but you are asked to affirm the principles of the TED community and Karen Armstrong initiative. Key global leaders who have already affirmed the charter include the Dalai Lama, Queen Noor of Jordan, Archbishop Emeritus Mpilo Tutu and Sheikh Ali Gomaa, Grand Mufti of Egypt.

If you don’t know TED, you’re in for a big treat. He’s sometimes better company than date night.

On a personal note, the need to find compassion in our religious beliefs is an urgent priority in every country. A year ago I never dreamed that I would be writing about the end of civilization as we know it. Today I take the idea very seriously.

We only promote self-responsibility and never guilt on A of C, but we MUST act on the Charter of Compassion initiative, or our children and grandchildren may not live to talk about our silence.

The voices of political repression, dogmatic ideology and fervently-held religious beliefs are twisting compassion and the practice of the Golden Rule into a faint memory around the world.

We are all guilty of contributing to this reality of life in every country on Planet Earth.

Compassion is a form of saying “no” to these brutal forces demanding that all beauty, kindness, and consideration among humans end in our world, in pursuit of “higher goals”. Moderate voices must be heard.

Responding to a friend on Facebook,  who is also promoting the Charter of Compassion, I recalled that old Curtis Mayfield tune: “(Don’t Worry) If There’s a Hell Below, We’re All Going to Go”. This 1970s song was written about race relations and religious attitudes in the US. But its message is global and very relevant to the challenge of compassion at hand. Anne

(Dont Worry) If Theres a Hell Below, Were All Going to Go - Curtis Mayfield