The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted and proclaimed by the UN 60 years ago this past December.  It is a powerful document whose words still hold within them goals the world has not yet reached.  This video is not only beautiful to watch, but important to share.

And while you are at it, share the Charter for Compassion video as well. Amazing how a few minutes of film can have such an emotional impact.

GOOD magazine posted a short interview with Karen Armstrong on the Charter. It is always great to see her thoughts on this idea that has grown into worldwide project to reinsert compassion into the religious conversation.

Like the commonality of the Golden Rule?
Yes.  This charter is not making any doctrinal claims or saying that all faiths should merge together into some kind of corporate religion, but [the Golden Rule] is something on which all faiths can agree. In a torn world, it is very good to find something that unites us.

For the last seven years, the Bush Administration’s rhetoric has involved phrases like “war of ideals” or “islamofascism.” How does compassion fit into that narrative?
What I’d like to see is the voices of compassion putting up a counter-narrative. A counter story to this aggression. Our modernity has been very intolerant. Yet, wherever I go in the world—whether it’s in the United States or in the Muslim world or in Europe—I find people are hungry for a more compassionate voice, both to religion and to politics. The charter was just an attempt, really, to bring compassion to the forefront of discussion and to issue some practical directives to how we can do better in the future.

We just recently closed the site to submissions and are now beginning the process of sorting through them for the Council of Sages to use in finalizing the document. It has been an amazing five weeks and we thank all of you who took part. There are still many ways to get involved, so register on charterforcompassion.org to keep up-to-date.

Did you miss the opportunity to participate in a writing phase? Did you want to add a core idea to Affirmations or a new group to Actions?

Submit your thoughts here.

You can add your submission to any phase: Preamble, Affirmations, Actions, or Final Declaration.

Please limit your submissions to under 100 words.

Join us for the fourth phase of writing the Charter for Compassion!

This declaration is a summary of the Charter’s role in the world and how it hopes to bring about change.

Here is the sample language: Compassion is not an impractical ideal. Unless we learn to implement the Golden Rule globally, we will not be able to live together in peace. A practically expressed respect for others is now essential for a healthy economy and for the survival of our species. Any ideology that breeds hatred or contempt ~ be it religious or secular ~ is failing the test of our time. We urgently need to find ways of making the Golden Rule a vibrant force in our thinking and behaviour ~ internationally, politically, socially, economically as well as in private life.

We have had a tremendous response to the Charter thus far but would love to broaden the conversation. It is not too late to register and add your voice, and we encourage you to share the site with your friends, family, co-workers, and other networks.

We have the Charter for Compassion. In Southern California, people have put compassion into action with the “Caravan for Compassion”.

Without acting on compassion, then what is it really? Join the world in writing actions that different groups of people can take to make compassion a central part of their lives.

Working with amazing partners such as Geo Television Network Independent Media Corporation in Pakistan, the Screens in Australia, and the Media Education Centre - Media Laboratory in Serbia, the Charter for Compassion is compiling a fantastic set of video interviews on compassion.  These stories are both personal and universal, highlighting the myriad ways in which compassion touches each life.  Watch them, share them, and then share your own.

Today the world began writing the second part of the Charter for Compassion: Affirmations.  Go now to submit your language, rate others submissions, and share your stories!

Here are the eight core ideas for the affirmations:

Here are two recent writings from Karen Armstrong on compassion and the urgent need for the Charter.

From The Guardian…

The charter will not just be a statement of intent, but will call for practical action: asking preachers, for example, to emphasise the importance of good interfaith relations; calling upon scholars to examine the difficult passages of their scriptures, and asking educators to find ways of presenting compassion to the young as a dynamic, attractive ideal.

Why is this important? Because the religions should be making a major contribution to what must be the chief task of our day: to build a global community where all peoples can live together in mutual respect and where the powerful do not treat other nations as they would not wish to be treated themselves. If we do not achieve this, it is unlikely that we will have a viable world to hand on to the next generation. Any ideology – religious or secular – that breeds hatred and disdain for others is failing the test of our time.

From Newsweek/Washington Post’s On Faith…

Any ideology ~ religious or secular ~ that breeds hatred or disdain will fail the test of our time. The religions should be making a major contribution to this essential task ~ and that is why it is important to sign on to the Charter of Compassion, change the conversation, and make it cool to be compassionate.

We hope that hundreds of thousands of people ~ Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Confucians and atheists all over the world will contribute their insights on line on our multi-lingual website. The world will help to write this Charter to return religion to the spirit of the Golden Rule. Can we make a difference? “Yes We Can!”

The first step in the creation of the Charter for Compassion has begun.  Over the next four weeks people from all over the world will write the Charter.  Using an innovative group-decision making platform from Kluster, submissions will be collected and rated in order to see which ideas have the most traction globally.  A Council of Sages, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Sister Joan Chittister, Prof. Tariq Ramadan, and Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp, will gather together to read the world’s words and mold the final version of the Charter.  In 2009, the final Charter for Compassion will be launched into the world to live in people’s lives.

Join us on this amazing journey.  Share your words.  Share your story.  Let your voice be heard.