INSAAN International Foundation and BeyondHeadlines have signed the Charter for Compassion
Kamala Kanta Dash for BeyondHeadlines
Compassion is inherent to all human beings. All our faith and religious traditions have stressed on the need of compassion for a productive, mutually dependent, peaceful and harmonious society. Nevertheless, we have fought more battles, killed our fellow brothers and sisters in the name of religion. 21st Century is no different. What we see today is an intersection of two opposing trends. One is violent radicalism and right-wing fundamentalism that believes in exclusivist interpretations of texts and the other is the aggressive secularism that believes in the steadfast rejection of anything that has to do with religion and religious code of conduct, even if they are universal spiritual values like love, justice and compassion.
Recognizing this as an urgent task to revisit the basic and golden principles of faith traditions, Karen Armstrong, a leading religious historian undertook a global collaborative project to develop a charter for compassion. Making her wish to develop such a charter while receiving the TED Prize on 28 February 2008, Karen Armstrong articulated the globally felt need of making religions “a force for harmony” by creating “a Charter for Compassion to restore the Golden Rule as the central global religious doctrine.” Global submissions were invited. A Council of Conscience comprising of leading faith leaders and scholars like Rev. Desmond Tutu, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, Sadhvi Chaitanya, Chandra Muzaffar, Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell and Prof Tariq Ramadan etc just to name a few participated in the process of review of global submissions to craft the charter. The Charter was unveiled on 12 November 2009 and till date has been signed by more than 97,000 individuals and institutions.
We at INSAAN International Foundation and BeyondHeadlines have signed the charter to spread the message of compassion. We request everyone to sign the Charter and share it with friends on social media and elsewhere.Please visit the Charter site (http://charterforcompassion.
The Charter for Compassion is facilitated by the Compassionate Action Network International (CANI).
