Charter for Compassion: Should We Really Need This?

An announcement landed in my inbox last night about the unveiling of a project called the “Charter for Compassion.” The brainchild of author and former nun Karen Armstrong, the Charter is a call to action for folks to behave with, well, compassion toward one another.

“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.”

After signing the Charter, participants are prompted to detail their acts of compassion on the site.

The Charter and the video (see above) are beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. They both show what can happen when people from all walks of life join together for a common, wonderful cause.

But here’s the question I posed a few minutes ago to a colleague about the project: “Have we fallen so far that we have to go to a website to remind us to be human?”

“This is a ritual…people need rituals,” he replied. “Rituals help you remind yourself of your duties.”

Darned good point.

But still, do projects such as the Charter change or tweak how people behave toward one another? Or, do they preach to the choir? Can we expect to see Than Shwe’s name (verified, please) on the list of affirmers?

One can hope.

One can also hope that the time will come when the site returns a “404 not found” page because it wasn’t needed anymore…we’d learned how to treat each other with compassion without having to be reminded to do so.