Karen Armstrong
Karen Armstrong’s Wish
The Charter for Compassion
After discussing Karen’s wish with the TED community, interfaith groups, and others, the Charter for Compassion has developed into a broader, more innovative, and more modern movement.
The writing of the Charter is open to people all around the world, of all faith traditions, nationalities, languages, and backgrounds. The online writing took place in late Fall 2008. In February 2009 the words of the world were collected and given to the Council of Conscience, a gathering of high-level religious leaders and thinkers, who are now crafting the final document. The Charter will then be launched in a spectacular way in November 2009.
How TED can help:
- Register to receive regular updates on the Charter.
- Spread the word by sharing the video on the Charter.
- Through the nomination process, assemble thousands of religious leaders, from all religions, who will agree to this charter and add their signature.
- Give this charter a public voice. We need to create a new narrative, get out of the rat-run of hatred, chauvinism and defensiveness; and make the authentic voice of religion a power in the world that is conducive to peace.
What we are looking for:
- Nominations of spiritual leaders who have inspired your thinking the most
- Outreach to religious centers, universities and the general public for nominations in order to uncover the 1,000 leaders who are most likely to change our world
- Video production companies around the world to film personal stories of compassion to be highlighted on the website
- A PR and communications partner
- Media partners who will get behind this effort
About Karen Armstrong
Authority on comparative religions
“I say that religion isn’t about believing things. It’s ethical alchemy. It’s about behaving in a way that changes you, that gives you intimations of holiness and sacredness.”
Karen Armstrong is one of the most provocative, original thinkers on the role of religion in the modern world. Armstrong is a former Roman Catholic nun who left a British convent to pursue a degree in modern literature at Oxford. In 1982 she wrote a book about her seven years in the convent, Through the Narrow Gate, that angered and challenged Catholics worldwide; her recent book The Spiral Staircase discusses her subsequent spiritual awakening after leaving the convent, when she began to develop her iconoclastic take on the great monotheistic religions.
She has written more than 20 books around the ideas of what Islam, Judaism and Christianity have in common, and around their effect on world events, including the magisterial A History of God and Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impact on Today’s World. Her latest book is The Bible: A Biography. Her meditations on personal faith and religion (she calls herself a freelance monotheist) spark discussion — especially her take on fundamentalism, which she sees in a historical context, as an outgrowth of modern culture.
In the post-9/11 world, she is a powerful voice for ecumenical understanding.