According to James, what should you do when you are in trouble?

Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Dude Abides

Home
Progressive Christian

Last updated on: November 13, 2009 at 3:53 pm by Cathleen Falsani

2009-11-13T15:53:00-07:00 Cathleen Falsani

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

GODSTUFF

WE HAVE A CHOICE TO MAKE: BE RIGHT OR BE COMPASSIONATE?

Compassion is, by one definition, “a deep awareness and sympathy for another’s suffering.”

Karen Armstrong, the former Roman Catholic nun and one of the foremost writers on religion of our generation, and the renowned African spiritual leader and peacemaker Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in launching what they have called the “Charter for Compassion,” are not saying anything new.

The basis for their call to action — for a worldwide and individual movement of simple and radical compassion — is based in what we collectively know as the Golden Rule.

Five hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ, Confucius said: “Do not do unto others what you would not like them to do to you.”

Jesus himself, scripture tells us, said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” and “Love your enemies.”

The great Jewish scholar Rabbi Hillel, a contemporary of Jesus, when summing up the whole of Judaism’s teaching, put it this way: “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor — that is the Torah. The rest is commentary. Go and study it.”

St. Augustine echoed Hillel’s sentiments, saying that scripture “teaches nothing but charity, and we must not leave an interpretation of scripture until we have found a compassionate interpretation of it.”

Religion need not be the force for division that it unfortunately often is. The three sister Abrahamic religions — Judaism, Islam and Christianity — share the Golden Rule as a central teaching. In fact, every religion at its core demands compassion not only for our own family, co-religionists and community but more importantly for those we consider “other” or “enemy.”

On Thursday, Armstrong, Tutu and a host of other religious leaders from around the world launched the Charter for Compassion, charterforcompassion.org, to try to turn the tide of religious division toward its true center of compassion.

THE CHARTER FOR COMPASSION SAYS:

A call to bring the world together…

The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.

It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.

We therefore call upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as enemies.

We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensible to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.

To some, it may seem a facile idea. But to me, it is perhaps the only thing that can conquer suffering, disease, unthinkable poverty and unending cycles of war, discrimination, hatred and oppression.

Those of us who consider ourselves spiritual, if not “religious,” have a choice to make. And it’s an individual choice.

In her speech last year accepting the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Development) award, which is given annually “to three exceptional individuals who each receive $100,000” (as well as the opportunity to voice their one wish for the world), Armstrong challenged us by saying that “a lot of religious people prefer to be right, rather than compassionate.

“People want to be religious, and religion should be made to be a force for harmony in the world, which it can and should be — because of the Golden Rule … an ethos that should now be applied globally,” Armstrong continued. “We should not treat other nations as we would not wish to be treated ourselves. And this — whatever our wretched beliefs — is a religious matter, is a spiritual matter. It’s a profound moral matter that engages and should engage us all.”

Think about that.

What would our world look like if we made deliberate choices, large and small, to be compassionate and kind rather than, simply, right?

It is possible to reclaim religion and, more importantly, belief as a force of good, harmony and unity.

The word “belief,” Armstrong reminded us in her TED speech, originally meant “to love, to prize, to hold dear.”

In that light, religion, the institutions of belief, should be built around charity, not supremacy.

Put someone else in front of yourself.

Choose kindness.

Be compassionate.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

November 6, 2009

Next Post

November 17, 2009

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A little happy ARCHIVED COLUMNS BECOMING FAMILY BelieberNess BREAKING NEWS! Disquiet Time DJ JEFF'S SPINTASMS falsani FILM from OCRegister From Sojo.net God Nods GODSTUFF I Take Requests incubatespirit LURKING IN THE NARTHEX On My Nightstand ONEMOMS Polling the Room PONTIFEXCELLENT Thru My Eyes TWO CENTS Uncategorized Upcoming Events VASCO VASCO'S HEART

Select a Month January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 May 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 April 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 October 2003 March 2003 December 2002 October 2002 January 2001

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to James, what should you do when you are in trouble?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Sing Hymns Repent Serve others Pray