The Charter For Compassion

Do you want to help solve one of the world’s great problems? This has to be as important as clean energy: religious fundamentalism turning into violence and hatred. The darker side of humanity seems at its worst when powered by misguided religious fervor.

“Misguided” is the active word there. All major religions have some variation on what I learned as the golden rule — do unto others as you would have others do unto you– at their core. Despite that, some religiously oriented groups preach violence and hatred. I don’t want to cite examples here because that usually diminishes the discussion.

I found out about the Charter For Compassion yesterday from the TED blog yesterday morning. The idea seems universal to me. What I learned as “the golden rule” exists in the core of all of the world’s major religions. This group wants only to bring that basic idea, in the different flavors it comes with the different religions, back to the forefront. That’s where it belongs. Start with not doing harm to others.

Please click the link here and see what you think.