Interview with Karen Armstrong (in Dutch)
For those who read Dutch, here is an article and interview with Karen Armstrong from October 31.
On the Charter for Compassion:
U werkt nu aan een Compassion Charter, een ‘Acte van Mededogen’, waarin niet-gelovigen en aanhangers van verschillende gelovigen hun compassie voor de medemens betuigen.
‘Tegenwoordig vinden veel mensen hun eigen gelijk belangrijker dan compassie met de ander. Secularisten en fundamentalisten zijn bang voor elkaar. Veel mensen zijn op zoek naar hun identiteit, omdat ze zich niet meer veilig voelen in dit tijdperk van globalisering. We moeten pluralistisch denken, maar in plaats daarvan trekt iedereen zich steeds meer terug in zijn eigen getto. Dat zie je zelfs in Groot-Brittannië, waar de Schotten en de Welshmen op hun eigen identiteit hameren op een manier die kort geleden ondenkbaar was.’
If anyone can translate this, post it in the comments.
Thanks Erik for the tip!
Translation (rough but human):
‘You are now working on a Compassion Charter, a ‘Bill of Compassion’, in which non-believers and followers from various beliefs(*) share their passion for their fellow humans.
‘Nowadays, many people value their self-interests higher than compassion for the other. Secularist and fundamentalists fear eachother. Lots of people are looking for their identity, since they no longer feel safe in this era of globalisation. We need to think globally, pluralistically(**), but instead, everyone is withdrawing more and more into their own ghettoes. One can witness this even in the United Kingdom, where the Scots and Welshmen stress/expound on their own identity in a way that was, until recently, unthinkable.’
Translation notes:
(*) This is an error in the original Dutch: gelovigen (believers) vs. geloven (beliefs, religions).
(**) Translation uncertain.
Alternative/ refinement:
‘Currently you are working on a “Charter for compassion” in which non believers and supporters of various faiths express their compassion for fellow humans.’
‘Nowadays a lot of people find being right [in their convictions/beliefs/model of the world] more important than having compassion for others. Secularists and fundamentalists are afraid of each other. A lot of people are looking for an identity or trying to define their identity because they don’t feel safe anymore in the current age of globalization. We have to think pluralistic but instead everyone retreats into their own ghettos. This has become visible even in Great Britain where the Scottish and the Welsh are battling for their own identity in a way that was unthinkable only a short while ago.’