The Fetzer Institute seeks an experienced project manager to coordinate partners, events, activities, and resources related to the Charter for Compassion. Terms: 10-month period, September to June 2011, with potential to renew.
Over the next twelve months, the Fetzer Institute will lead the planning, direction and launch of a two-year campaign to raise awareness, engage communities and inspire action related to the Charter for Compassion. The result of Karen Armstrong’s 2008 TED Prize wish, the Charter for Compassion seeks to restore compassionate thinking, and most importantly, compassionate action to the center of religious, moral and political life. The goal of the project during the contract period will be to develop key audiences (religious and interfaith groups, young adults, and organized cities and countries) to move the Charter beyond a written document, enabling people and communities around the globe to put into practice and action the daily work of living from a place of compassion. In addition to continued partnership development and grassroots outreach, there will be additional focus on digital media, online community-building, media outreach, publicity and promotion as ways to extend the reach of the Charter.
The position is a fixed-term (10 months) contract position. There is not a requirement to relocate or be in office at the Fetzer Institute located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. However, the position will require access to any necessary computer equipment and routine office supplies.
If you are interested, read the full job description here. Questions can be directed to CharterManager@fetzer.org. To apply, please email cover letter and CV/Resume to CharterManager@fetzer.org by Wednesday, August 25, 2010.
Charter for Compassion plaques are available for purchase now. Hang one in your home, office, school, community center or house of worship. Send one as a gift to your family member, friend, organization or religious community.
Beautifully designed by Yves Behar and his team at fuseproject, the plaque serves as an elegant reminder that every day is a new opportunity to live more compassionately. The design focuses on the power and meaning of the Charter’s words rather than purely the form. The plaque’s isometric perspective reminds us of a book, and expresses the depth of the Charter’s text and encompassing points of view. The plaque consists of sustainable maple, simple construction and laser-engraving to create a unique and iconic design reflective of the key messaging of Karen Armstrong. Each plaque is hand-crafted by Thomas Duffy, a designer and craftsman with 30 year of experience.
The plaque costs $200 (USD), including shipping & handling. Some international locations may require additional payment for shipping. The Charter for Compassion is a non-profit initiative and the plaques are priced at cost. Plaques can be made in any language we have available for download.
If you are interested in purchasing a plaque, please visit our webstore. If you can’t afford to purchase a plaque, we encourage you to download a copy to frame and hang on your wall. You can find a downloadable version for over 30 languages in the sidebar here.
For the launch of the Charter for Compassion over 60 plaques were hung in significant religious and secular locations around the world, including India, Botswana, Australia, Malaysia, England and Brazil.
Here are a few thoughts from those already displaying the Charter:
IBN ABBAS, NOUAKCHOTT, MAURITANIA
“The hanging of this Charter is an important event symbolising aspects that unite civilisations across the globe, in particular the principle of compassion which is a cornerstone of Islam. It is even more significant as it focuses on children who are at the core of the work of our network.” – Hademine Ould Saleck, President, Imams and Oulemas Network for Child Rights
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CHAPEL, CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, PHILIPPINES
“May those passing into the Chapel be reminded by this plaque at the entrance to the Chapel, and reflect again, as they read it on the way out, that we are one with all our suffering brothers and sisters throughout the world, and as members of the Xavier University community, always and ever men and women for others.” – Fr Calvin Poulin,SJ, Chaplain, Immaculate Conception Chapel
LITHGOW CORRECTIONAL CENTER, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA
“The Charter of Compassion plaque is now hanging in the prison chapel at Lithgow correctional centre. It is very rare within a prison for people to have the opportunity to step out of their very fixed roles. The hanging was one of those occasions. To be together for the shared purpose of instating the Charter of Compassion was very special. The governor, head of nursing, a welfare officer and two of the Christian chaplains were in attendance, along with ten inmates. We shared the reading of the Charter between inmates and staff.
We asked the guys why they considered it significant to hang the plaque within the prison. They offered the following responses:
Because you find peace in the most unlikely places
Because everyone wants to be happy
Because compassion spreads compassion.
The atmosphere in the room testified to all of these responses. The governor and head of nursing both requested copies of the photos to hang in their respective offices. The inmates all requested copies to share with their families and friends and links to the Charter of Compassion website to pass on to them.” – Aileen Barry, Liberation Prison Project
Did you know the Charter for Compassion is available for download in more than thirty languages, from French to Japanese to Xhosa to Persian? Each download is designed not only for easy online reading but to be printed and hung on your wall.
If you don’t see a language you speak and want to help translate the Charter, please email us. Also please let us know if you would like to help subtitle the video.
You can affirm the Charter directly on the site. Add your name today and encourage others to do so as well.
Many thanks to the following individuals who helped us in this process:
Anour F.A. Dafa-Alla
Apichai Puntasen
Arnon Cahen
Dimitra Papageorgiou
Dirk and Natalie van Niekerk
Eiji Han Shimizu
Giulia Mignani
Holger Wendt
Kolisa Xinindlu
Lily Limbu
Lisa Brännström
Mar Cárdenas Loutzenhiser
Marcin Zieliński’s ethics class at VI LO Highschool in Gdansk, Poland
Mariam Bazeed
Mike Adair
Nenad Maljković
Pekka Jamsen
Rev Cloupas Molokwane
Ruya Koray
Sabine Pfannenstiel
Sarah Nundy
Sayagyi U Thein Myint
Steve Doss
Vladimir Chernyshov
Zakaria Ngelow
Help share the Charter by embedding the Charter for Compassion widget. Our widget allows you to read and affirm the Charter directly in four different languages: Arabic, Hebrew, English and Spanish. Please consider adding it to your site or as part of a blog post to help spread the movement. You can find the embed code through the “share” tab on the bottom right of the widget below.
In February 2008, Karen Armstrong won the TED Prize and made her wish – to create a Charter for Compassion, a document about the core shared value of every world religion and moral code, the Golden Rule. This document will be released to the world on November 12, the result of months of collaborative work by diverse religious leaders and great thinkers.
Today, to pave the way for the Charter’s unveiling, we’re sharing six short talks on compassion from six different perspectives — from a Rabbi, an Imam, a Reverend, a Tenzin, a Swami and a secular voice of compassion. We hope that in the week following the launch, thousands of sermons and many more discussions on the nature of compassion will take place around the world, and so, thousands of ideas will be shared.
Religious thinker Karen Armstrong has written more than 20 books on faith and the major religions, studying what Islam, Judaism and Christianity have in common, and how our faiths shaped world history and drive current events. She argues that compassion is the core, fundamental idea behind the three Abrahamic religions, and she is working to help people of faith rediscover this principle.
Armstrong has given two TEDTalks (see her 2008 and 2009 talk), and the result of her 2008 TED Prize wish, the Charter for Compassion, will be unveiled on Nov. 12.
Submit your questions on Reddit and we’ll ask the highest-voted ones as of noon Pacific time on Friday, October 30th. (Note: Any questions in the comments of this blog entry will not be eligible.)
Weeks from the Charter for Compassion launch, Karen Armstrong looks at religion’s role in the 21st century: Will its dogmas divide us? Or will it unite us for common good? She reviews the catalysts that can drive the world’s faiths to rediscover the Golden Rule. (Recorded at TEDGlobal, July 2009, Oxford, UK.Duration: 09:55)
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