Causecast

by SARAH NELSON, Contributing Writer

When writer, Karen Armstrong, won the 2008 TED Award, she made one wish. She wanted to create a "Charter For Compassion." Since winning the award in February 2008, Armstrong and thousands of others have worked tirelessly to cultivate this idea into a force of change.

On November 12, the Charter of Compassion was finally unveiled.

The Charter was developed by a multi-faith, multi-national panel of 18 leading thinkers working to find the common thread that ties humanity together regardless of religious creed, social status, geographical location or political leaning. What they found at the heart of all religious teachings – compassion. Tragically, when compassion is forgotten, religion can be divisive and destructive. Finding commonality in spite of differences is the key to applying the Charter of Compassion.

Armstrong’s idea for the Charter is pretty simple: it’s an appeal to humanity of all religious, political and ethnic ideas – to apply the Golden Rule in everyday action. Armstrong says, "If we wish to create a viable world order, we must try to implement the Golden Rule globally, treating all peoples — even those who seem far removed from us — as we would wish to be treated ourselves."

This concept is the underlying principle of all world religions and spiritual ideas, but is somehow often lost in conflicting perspectives and moments of hostility. The lack of compassion that our global community often demonstrates leads to marginalization, misunderstanding and even war.

The Charter:

This is not a U.N. campaign or a push from world leaders feeling guilty about their politicking. There is no bottom-line. It’s a movement of ordinary people working to set their differences aside and find a common voice in compassion. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some pretty serious endorsements. People like Deepak Chopra and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu have bought in. Goldie Hawn. Meg Ryan. Kenneth Cole. Quincy Jones. The Queen of Jordan. Even His Holiness the Dalai Lama is behind it.

Regardless of what faith you subscribe to, or whether you are even religious at all, the idea of doing what is right for other people just because it is the right thing to do is a compelling concept. It removes faith from the hands of extremists that exploit religion and create dissonance. It could end wars. It could change policy. It could end poverty.

The Charter of Compassion has launched, but according to its Founder – this is only the beginning. Here’s what you can do to to be part of the movement:

• Check out the Charter. Read it for yourself and affirm the Charter.

• Go digital. Tweet. Facebook. Digg. E-mail. Whatever you do share the Charter with your web community.

• Participate in an event or host a Charter for Compassion Event in your community. There are events taking place all over the world. Check out the Charter’s Event Calendar to find one near you.

Photo by kalandrakas, flickr.