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Wednesday, 19 November 2008
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Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders have begun a campaign to apply the golden rule 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you' globally.
Charter seeks golden rule
The Age, Barney Zwartz, November 18, 2008
A GLOBAL campaign to apply religion's "golden rule" — treat others as you would like them to treat you — has been launched by Christians, Jews and Muslims. The campaigners, claiming that compassion is at the heart of most religions, have launched an online Charter of Compassion and invited atheists and others to join them.
The movement is headed by a "council of sages" of world religious leaders, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, leading European Muslim Tariq Ramadan and Rabbi Baroness Julia Neuberger.
Author and interfaith advocate Karen Armstrong, a former Catholic nun who is one of the key organisers, says many people associate religion with violence, intolerance and dogma rather than compassion.
She wrote in Britain's Guardian newspaper that most people misunderstood "compassion" as meaning pity, whereas it meant "to feel with" the other. "This is crucial at a time when we are bound together — politically, economically and electronically — as never before but have rarely been more perilously divided," she wrote.
Millions of Christians, Jews and Muslims around the world will be invited to comment on a draft charter on a multilingual website. Then a multifaith council of "inspirational thinkers" will write the final version. It is intended to lead to action and education.
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