THE QUESTION

Compassion and Religion

Religion scholar Karen Armstrong is asking the world to write a Charter for Compassion, based on her premise that compassion is central to all religions. Do you agree? If so, what has gone wrong?

» More about Charter for Compassion

Posted by Sally Quinn and Jon Meacham on November 12, 2008 4:12 AM

FROM THE PANEL

182
COMMENTS

Calling All Religions to Compassion

The major task of our generation is to build a global community where people of all persuasions can live together in mutual respect. If we do not achieve this, we will not have a viable world to hand on to our children. We must implement the Golden Rule globally.

Posted by Karen Armstrong, on November 17, 2008 8:30 AM

17
COMMENTS

Compassion is a Universal Value

God is not only Loving and Compassionate -- She is also Splendorous, Majestic, Just, the Giver of Life and the Taker of Life, The Judge and the Ruler of all that is in the Heavens and the Earth.

Posted by Pamela K. Taylor, on November 17, 2008 8:00 AM

7
COMMENTS

Compassion Makes the World Better

The Bible is filled with commandments that we're to care for the least of these, seek justice, and tend to widows and orphans. I think if all religions made a serious effort to behave this way, this would be a better world.

Posted by Charles "Chuck" Colson, on November 17, 2008 7:00 AM

26
COMMENTS

Compassion is Not "Central to All Religions"

The notion that "compassion is central to all religions" is wishful thinking, not sound scholarship.

Posted by Willis E. Elliott, on November 17, 2008 6:16 AM

29
COMMENTS

Compassion Does Not Demonize 'Fundamentalism'

Opposing a call to compassion feels like kicking a puppy with a broken paw, but it isn't. A call to compassion is not actually compassion.

Posted by John Mark Reynolds, on November 14, 2008 7:32 AM

19
COMMENTS

Atheism/Agnosticism Plus Compassion Equals Humanism

The golden rule is achingly important because it hurts to think how often our neighbors brush us aside, violence in their words if not their fists. It hurts us to be merely a pink and brown object in their way, rather than a human being who will feel the same way about their behavior as they would if they had to endure it.

Posted by Greg M. Epstein, on November 14, 2008 6:39 AM

250
COMMENTS

Compassion Begins with Mother Earth

Compassion includes compassion for the earth, for all the interrelated and interacting life forms, for the plants, animals, birds, trees, even the microorganisms that sustain life. For if we don't include that broader community in the scope of our compassion, if we continue to destroy the very systems that support our lives, we cannot survive.

Posted by Starhawk, on November 13, 2008 7:53 AM

32
COMMENTS

Forget Compassion. Celebrate Modesty as Expression of Genuine Faith

In a world filled with faith-driven hate and violence, simply appealing to something as amorphous as compassion will not do the job. What we need is an agreement about how to practice the kind of modesty which assures that we not seek the destruction of those with whom we have genuine difference.

Posted by Brad Hirschfield, on November 12, 2008 8:46 AM

63
COMMENTS

On The Unreliability of Compassion Without Enforceable Law

Let me say first that I am unequivocally in favor of compassion. But Karen Armstrong's proposal that the world should write a "Charter for Compassion" is typical of the mushy thinking displayed by those who promote the dubious notion that all religions have a similar core.

Posted by Susan Jacoby, on November 12, 2008 7:50 AM

Thinking religion is hard work

In her great scholarship on the history of fundamentalism, Armstrong has made the case for thoughtful, honest, steady, non-reactive and, yes, thoughtful religion. I believe in a God who calls me to live compassionately and to think compassionately.

Posted by William Tully, on November 12, 2008 7:09 AM

1
COMMENTS

The Mystery of the Compassionate Brain

Compassion is universally revered and universally ignored.

Posted by Deepak Chopra, on November 12, 2008 6:43 AM

5
COMMENTS

Compassion a Value All Faiths Share

We shouldn't minimize the differences between religions. But when it comes to ethics, there's a lot of truth to Karen Armstrong's premise about compassion. The golden rule or something like it is inherent to the ethical vision of all major faiths.

Posted by Brian D. McLaren, on November 12, 2008 5:19 AM

1
COMMENTS

Compassion Cannot Stand Alone

Love, respect, understanding and compassion must be universal and unconditional. God loves everyone and makes no distinction between Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus or non-believers.

Posted by Arun Gandhi, on November 11, 2008 11:55 AM

1
COMMENTS

Compassionate Faith: Not an Oxymoron

In light of the mixed ethical legacy of all faiths and worldviews I thank Karen Armstrong for appealing to one of the noblest of human virtues embraced by all people of good will, compassion.

Posted by Gabriel Salguero, on November 11, 2008 11:02 AM

6
COMMENTS

Choice, Life and Compassion

There is not much compassion, in my opinion, in any religion that I have studied. There is the potential for compassion, but the actual practice is almost absent, at least on a large scale.

Posted by Susan K. Smith, on November 11, 2008 8:59 AM

FEATURED COMMENTS

Independent7: I would be thrilled if I felt that compassion was central to all religions. Unfortunately, the focal points of the religions I see around m...

Think2: "...compassion is central to all religions. Do you agree? If so, what has gone wrong?" Compassion is central to all religions, since religi...

Robert_B1: I'm not sure that compassion is central to all religions, but I do believe that it is central to all concepts of morality. I also believe t...

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Compassion and Religion

Religion scholar Karen Armstrong is asking the world to write a Charter for Compassion, based on her premise that compassion is central to all religions. Do you agree? If so, what has gone wrong?» More about Charter for Compassion

The major task of our generation is to build a global community where people of all persuasions can live together in mutual respect. If we do not achieve this, we will not have a viable world to hand on to our children. We must implement the Golden Rule globally.

God is not only Loving and Compassionate -- She is also Splendorous, Majestic, Just, the Giver of Life and the Taker of Life, The Judge and the Ruler of all that is in the Heavens and the Earth.

The Bible is filled with commandments that we're to care for the least of these, seek justice, and tend to widows and orphans. I think if all religions made a serious effort to behave this way, this would be a better world.

The notion that "compassion is central to all religions" is wishful thinking, not sound scholarship.

Opposing a call to compassion feels like kicking a puppy with a broken paw, but it isn't. A call to compassion is not actually compassion.

In a world filled with faith-driven hate and violence, simply appealing to something as amorphous as compassion will not do the job. What we need is an agreement about how to practice the kind of modesty which assures that we not seek the destruction of those with whom we have genuine difference.

Let me say first that I am unequivocally in favor of compassion. But Karen Armstrong's proposal that the world should write a "Charter for Compassion" is typical of the mushy thinking displayed by those who promote the dubious notion that all religions have a similar core.

In her great scholarship on the history of fundamentalism, Armstrong has made the case for thoughtful, honest, steady, non-reactive and, yes, thoughtful religion. I believe in a God who calls me to live compassionately and to think compassionately.

Compassion is universally revered and universally ignored.

We shouldn't minimize the differences between religions. But when it comes to ethics, there's a lot of truth to Karen Armstrong's premise about compassion. The golden rule or something like it is inherent to the ethical vision of all major faiths.

Love, respect, understanding and compassion must be universal and unconditional. God loves everyone and makes no distinction between Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus or non-believers.

In light of the mixed ethical legacy of all faiths and worldviews I thank Karen Armstrong for appealing to one of the noblest of human virtues embraced by all people of good will, compassion.

There is not much compassion, in my opinion, in any religion that I have studied. There is the potential for compassion, but the actual practice is almost absent, at least on a large scale.

Religion scholar Karen Armstrong is asking the world to write a Charter for Compassion, based on her premise that compassion is central to all religions. Do you agree? If so, what has gone wrong?

» More about Charter for Compassion