Charter for CompassionHere is the Charter for Compassion webpage.
“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. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.
“It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.“We therefore call upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as enemies.
“We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensible to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.”
I'd be happy if we replaced the Book of Order and our Book of Confessions (oh, heck, and the Bible for that matter) with this statement and allowed our lives to be commentary.
Follow the charter on Facebook and Twitter and sign on yourself.
“We therefore call upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate."
ReplyDeleteThis is great. The fact that it had to be introduced at all is pathetic. What else is religion for if not this?
>>This is great. The fact that it had to be introduced at all is pathetic. What else is religion for if not this?<<
ReplyDeleteThe promotion and preservation of the reign of white, heterosexual men; the gathering of income from those who struggle to feed their families and pay their bills through mild and acceptable forms of brain-washing (mainly backed by the fear of hell); and the invocation of Supreme Authority to enforce a political agenda that keeps lesser beings on a short leash. Duh. Where have you been? :p
(I'm cranky today, if you couldn't tell.)
Now that I've got that out of my system, yeah, it really is quite pathetic that someone actually has to point out something this obvious.