Karen Armstrong: 2008 TED Prize wish: Charter for Compassion
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- Опубліковано 18 бер 2008
- www.ted.com As she accepts her 2008 TED Prize, author and scholar Karen Armstrong talks about how the Abrahamic religions -- Islam, Judaism, Christianity -- have been diverted from the moral purpose they share to foster compassion. But Armstrong has seen a yearning to change this fact. People want to be religious, she says; we should act to help make religion a force for harmony. She asks the TED community to help her build a Charter for Compassion -- to help restore the Golden Rule as the central global religious doctrine.
She is definitely an amazingly brilliant mind! Thank you, Karen.
Many thanks for this message!
I'm watching this again today after having seen it just the other day. It's brilliant.
Having gone through a lot in Life's Journey this TED Talk of hers is an inspiring one with a Global Impact.
Nonsense.
04:45 Compassion
05:45 G. rule
07:00 Scriptures should be interpreted w/ g. rule
08:50 Apply compassion to everyone, not just own grp.
13:30 G. rule/global
17:30 Wish: charter of compassion based on g. rule
18:15 Guidelines for how to interpret the scriptures
18:30 Scripture should be governed by principle of charity
19:20 Get this to everybody on the planet
She represents what TED is all about. I am listening to a speech wonderfully told, well constructed, and most importantly stack full of truth.
Thanks Ms. Karen. What a great lecture.
Any ideology that doesn't promote global understanding and global appreciating for each other is failing in the test of the time...
Karen's books have had a profound impact on my own journey - this is the first time I've ever heard her speak at length though & it's absolutely brilliant
Karen Armstrong is a wonderful scholar and inspiring speaker. I heard her at Greenbelt where she talked about religious fundamentalism. I've read a number of her books and they're like balm for my soul. It's so good to see someone guiding people through religion with understanding and deep compassion.
O que falta para o mundo é compaixão. Carta para compaixão ❤ mensagem boa
She is a legend ❤Reading her books and listening to her thoughts is very inspiring. It really impresses me that her works are full of information.
Bravo!!!!
5:31 - in Compassion, when we feel with the other, we dethrone ourselves from the center of our world and we put another person there. And once we get rid of ego, then we're ready to see the Divine.
It is Compassion (says the Buddha) which brings you to Nirvana.
to read: The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness by Karen Armstrong
re: comparative theology .
.
This is pure common sens, not a religious matter. Religions take that common sens value that is rooted in human consciousness and put it into theirs scriptures, not the other way mourned. Many laic institutions have compassion as their main driver and do not invoke religious matter : human right watch, Amnesty International, Oxfam, and so on...
how extraordinary.
thanks for the comment: I think this quote helps to give light to the essentials of Karen Armstrongs message:
"My heart has opened unto every form: it is a pasture for gazelles, a cloister for Christian monks, a temple for idols, the Ka'ba of the pilgrim, the tablets of the Torah and the book of the Qur'an. I practice the religion of love...."
-Ibn 'Arabi, a Spanish Sufi, or Islamic mystic
Brilliant!
May Peace Prevail On Earth
This woman is the most brilliant religious scholar alive. I'm a Christian, her speech gives me hope for a return to compassion, and a reconciliation between the world faiths. We should not pay as much attention to dogma but have compassion for everyone!
Wonderful message. I hope this charter of compassion spreads quickly for humanity's sake :)
You can help with that. Everyone can read, affirm, and share it with their networks of family, friends, colleagues, church leaders etc. Everyone can learn about the Compassionate City movement that this led to and there are now 450 compassionate cities around the world and that number grows all the time.
Watched this for David. RIP ✌️🕊
Zo inspirerend! Let's do it!
"de-throne yourself". I like that.
I find it interesting in reading these quotes that the spirit of compassion so often fails to reveal itself. As a citizen of this planet on this journey through life I strive to accept my other passengers who each and every one is experiencing their own personal journey. If we focus too much on the stupid things that any one of us or our predecessors has done in the past the less we might be willing to try and do better in the future. Lets at least give ourselves the hope of a better world?
@50kT the only thing you have to 'give in' to, is the idea of treating others as you would want to be treated. It's not a global conspiracy - it's natural and beneficial. Power brokers have wanted to benefit from this compassion, but the compassion always comes first - what is done with it is a whole different idea.
Geez.! Where did we get off into conversion and how many of you have read the Baha'i Writings? Hmmm...didn't think so... well, I think you'd be surprised.
If you were happy to learn of Karen Armstrong you should seriously check them out. NOT to become a Baha'i but to see the history of these ideas, the larger picture of fitting them in place and the progress already made toward these goals. But reinventing the wheel has much merit too. Have at it! All work along these lines is good work. Peace.
OK,I give in. You are the expert on reasoned arguments.
sign me up! Each person can change their little spot of the planet. Teach your children. Talk to your neighbors. Talk to your family. Be a member of the golden rule club. Well done indeed!!
awesome message :)
I agree with your assessment of the golden rule alone being insufficient. There are other basic rules and many more complex rules for how to treat people. Do onto others as they would have done onto them whenever possible. Our goal should be to generate as much happiness as possible.
We need more and more of the woman in leadership positions
The point is that integrity and honesty are important values, and anyone purporting to be a scholar has a duty to tell the truth; it is not their job to presume that their audience is too immature or naive to cope with reality, or to patronise them by protecting them from 'hurtful' truths. They should do them the justice of allowing them to make their own informed judgements.
@bohemiandeborah: most people probably don't want conversion. I think it's a very practical standpoint to try to increase the amount of interdialogue and compassion among different religions.
irajkhodadoost I totally agree! I didn't say she should become a Baha'i. I think she would find interesting that many of the amazing things she stands so brilliantly for are spoken about in the Writings of the Baha'i Faith. By seeing the same things from numerous worthwhile perspectives I, myself, derive so much deeper an understanding! In fact, that is the first tenet of the Faith, independent investigation of truth. No clergy. You must take responsibility for your own spiritual growth.
''We ask, then, for peace for the gods of our fathers and of our country. It is just that all worship should be considered as one. We look on the same stars, the sky is common, the same world surrounds us. What difference does it make by what pains each seeks the truth? We cannot attain to so great a secret by one road.''
- Quintus Aurelius Symmachus (340--402)
noone speaks more truth today than karen armstrong and if you haven't read her books, then you don't have a clue.....
god bless Karen Armstrong!
Damn you, Stan!
@bohemiandeborah According to Abdu'l-Baha, someone may call himself a Baha'i for 50 years but does not exhibit the necessary attributes and reverse is also true. It takes a lot of good people from all different persuasions to bring about peace and unity on earth. Karen Armstrong is one of those voices and is respected in different parts of the globe because of her genuine compassion for harmony and interfaith dialogue. Thanks for listening.
thank you for this
She's making a serious, intelligent, reasoned informed and eloquent case for recognising the positive things that underlie all faiths. There is no apology for Islam or any other religion in anything she says.
so true, to critically analyse all religion in an academic setting and they will make the decision themselves if they should be an atheist or choose amongst the religion. though sometimes it's a little hard to be logical with religion, i still think it's a good idea.
Armstrong is right on the mark when she says religion has been highjacked and misused. By emphasizing the Golden Rule she is reminding us that the essence of religion is for goodness to be made manifest among us regardless of doctrinal belief. The essence is in teh HEART not the head. Well done lady!!
Very good idea though! I hope this will become a big thing.
espalhando essa ideia...
@jamesharrel I think there is an element of truth in what you say - although she has evolved through years with her writing as well.
thank you o'peacfull christian for your kind and decent way..
Cultura religiosa Ulbra 🙋
Hahahaha, eu também!
Estamos aí também, cultura religiosa Ulbra
é noses kkkkk
Pois então...kkkk
tamu junto!! ahahahah
I want give this woman a huge hug and let her know that at least once in her life, she touched another's soul and changed their way of thinking, my way of thinking. So all of you that are arguing and disrespecting Karen's very subject of material in this video is without a doubt ridiculous and idiotic in a way that I cannot even describe to you.
I find Alain De Botton's ideas about trying to 'rescue' the good ideas from religions. I am serious when I suggest that I think that the mystical or whatever you want to call it should be an 'optional extra'.
Armstrong rightly argues that in stressing 'belief' above 'action' they are putting the horse before the cart, but I also wonder whether we need the horse at all, especially post-industrial revolution :)
I want reason, logic, etc. to be grasped by the world in a way that no other generation of humanity has ever done. I want this time period to be the next enlightenment. You think I am being intellectually dishonest, ignorant, even naive, but you have no idea how much I want the world to understand everything. Do not judge by words, judge by meaning.
i came with ridicule, i am leaving with love and compassion!
Hopefully, the perception that I have where material things are not important, a view also shared by many religious will become more pertinent as necessities and even luxury is provided for. We will be able to channel our competive energy in a more positive way.
Acknowledge a basic fact, as a child I marveled at the size of the universe. I have to be stoic regardless, because there are always going to be people who can be led on a leash by other people who want to rule the world. Being stoic means realizing you are going to die, and still not being afraid, not giving in to false promises of heaven or anything which is too good to be true. Just because you really, really want it, doesn't make it so.
❤❤❤
I am not a religious person, nor do i prescribe to anyone holding religious ideologies, but it is my utmost duty to understand where people are coming from. Because, we are all in the same boat anyway, we all want to understand something, one way or another. It is arrogant of some theists and some atheists to bash eachother. They act like a bunch of children who do not understand how tolerance and humility truly can save us from ourselves. Karen Armstrong has jagged teeth.
Thank goodness for utube, I would not have the chance to know there is such a person as Karen Armstrong if not for it..
Frankly, the practice of fostering harmony between such egomanical religions seems immpossible given the immovable holybooks they are based upon..
I am uncertain if the harmony will last without the texts recited daily by the followers being edited..
I believe that science is the best tool we have to understand our universe. It's results are empirically verified, it's strange that I should learn morality without dogma, and that has made me relaize that life is better with it than without it. Simple logic is all that is required when the evidence is gathered. My morality stems from science. In many circumstances my lack of belief in God is what leads to altruism.
I would read it.
Hello mr Hemmen's class.
Therein lies the paradox of spirituality. You seek fulfillment in the dreams of another. Yet you fail to discover for yourself your own meaning. Your meaning does not have to be magical or immortal. It can just be, and with that, make the most of what you can with it. No-one can tell you what your meaning is. If they do, they are trying to control you. It's right in front of your face, can you see it? There is no test, there is no examiner, just you, and how you choose to live.
i think you are correct :) but sadly there are people who can only feel special and important by belittling and denigrating others, especially if those others are championing kindness or tolerance.
Karen Armstrong is the great ambassador for peace of our generation. "Religion should be a cause of love and affection; otherwise, we are better off without it." From the Baha'i Writings
SWAM, with all due respect I think your belief would stand in the way of your knowledge and wisdom. It is this dam that keeps us from swimming to the sea and hearing the sound of the rushing rivers gracefully surrendering their chorus of, I to the silent secrets in the ocean of all.
@frid9999 I have read many of Karen Armstrong's books, the History of God, the Battle for God, The Holy War, Buddhism, Islam, etc. and been very much enlightened by it. Am I missing something? I have no connection to this author and love to read different perspectives, but I am curious to know why you think that she "is full of ...." Respectfully, Iraj
Order is always apparent in any closed system or any system in which energy is contiguous due to coefficient of restitution. The question I have for you is what kind of good scientist would equate such order towards supernatural singularities?
@stevenweir76: Promoting intolerance, do you then feel that being compassionate makes one accept ill-doings? For me, compassion makes it possible to intervene when I see someone fucking up. Intolerance often creates action blinded by emotional upsurge. If feel that compassion increases the ability to accept what is, and act accordingly.
My day job is as a teacher working with international students who are muslims, buddhists, hindus, siekhs, catholics, atheists, etc. So I have no time for factions. We are two legged mammals with a short lifespan. Way too short to argue about whose perception of the divine is right or wrong.
Me parece una visión preciosa y verdadera de la religión: empezar por cambiar, por comprometernos, por dialogar con otras cultruas y religiones y no convertir la religión en ideologia para discutir y pavonearnos de nuestras brillantes ideas. La vida de Jesucristo está totalmente en línea con la charla, lo primero es la compasión, dejar que Dios te llene de amor, voluntad y servicio a los demás. Lo que me extraña es que haya tantos comentarios en contra de sus ideas, si estas personas se sienten religiosas que las presenten en oración ante Dios para que hable el corazón.
wow, it is amazing how so many posters completely missed the point she was making about compassion and religion.
"Then he [the King] will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." (Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, Matthew 25:41)
"The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." (James 3:6)
The courage comes in when despite the inability to affect change, you have the courage to try. We are not insignificant if we don't allow ourselves to be. The church loves the Hellinistic version becauses it causes people to give up and submit. Why? Control, no different than previous warring religions, like the Egyptians or the Aztecs, it's all about control. This is my life, not the popes, nor the preachers, no-one knows me except me. Other people want to think they are nothing, good for them.
I give in. Please put us out of our suspense and tell us.
The key is simple: foster altruism. Teach people to 1. Advocate altruism 2. Organise it with Free Collaboration Networks to meet people's needs
wow
Stay brave, internet warrior, for you fight the good fight. May you never run out of Mountain Dew and Doritos, and may your neckbeard grow to lengths never before seen. You are an inspiration to us all.
Religious Fundamentalist of all faiths need to listen to this. Most Atheist already understand this
Finally an intelligent comment on KA and her credentials and purpose!
Very interesting interview that talks about a universal humaniy.
Sorry to hear that. What she says is so close to what the Baha'i Faith talks about! Well she has a cool surprise awaiting her when she does find out. The Faith is logical, mystical, and learning about it has really provided key pieces of the Big Puzzle for me. Like Progressive Revelation: the Prophets from God (there is only ONE God, do we agree?) have built upon the foundation of the former ones, like teachers do at school! Same stuff re: capacity of humans thru time. No competition! Check it
Corruption in secular society is dealt with as the general morality of people see fit. We tolerate certain levels of immorailty and selfishness, realizing that some people will always be corrupt, good natured people try to accomodate until it becomes too much. I think people actually need to be less tolerant, given the circumstances, toward those who are overly selfish. It doesn't help that we overpay actors, musicians and sport stars, and underpay doctors and teachers.
In addition, in this day in age, when religion is pretty much a boatload of crazies, for someone who is religious to stand up and say that sacred documents, such as the Bible or the Torah are only "commentary" and what is really important to religion is treating others with respect....well, that takes some guts, and I have to hope she keeps impressing this point on religious and non-religious folk. I happen to agree with her that society can't advance too far without compassion for all people
I always thought that TRUTH was more important than compassion although it should be practiced.
The problem with Truth as an absolute is that it isn't. Each of us sees truth slightly, or very, differently. Most of what I learned in my training as true turned out 40 years later as not. But compassion has a built in check - if you do unto others as you would be done by, the others are your check.
She is remarkably articulate. The religion she describes is wonderful. But it's not being practiced by any of the three monotheistic faiths. Even though I am in complete opposition to religion of any sort, I find her an intelligent and fascinating woman.
Karen really seems like a wonderful woman with a intelligent mind. I love her idea to stop trying to tolerate and instead trying to appreciate people.
I don't totally agree with her conclusion religion is inherently peaceful and that it's been 'hijacked' by political agendas (though it is true in some cases). I think religion tends to be this consolidating of different ideas (some good, some bad) under a single banner.
Q1: Any bogus Prada does not detract from genuine Versace or Chanel.
Q2/Q3: Same as above
Q4: If the rulers of Rome are good, intelligent, civilised, compassionate beings, then of course.
It's time to tell a different story. One where humanity ends war. Ends poverty. Explores farther than they ever have before into reliaty. Accepts their place in the universe and tries in ernest to seek truth rather than giving in to political and religious authority.
What's with the 'short of time' bit?
What a title for a debate! It'd take so long just to work out what it's supposed to mean we'd have no time to resolve it. Is it just a roundabout way of saying 'Christians are right and everybody else is wrong'?
I don't think compassionate people are those who act against immorality although I see nothing wrong with that. It seems to be like you see a bad path chosen by another and want to help them, or you see a set of unfortunate circumstances and want to rectify them. So compassion is simply understanding the human condition in the broader sense. It is empathy, knowing what it is like to walk in another's shoes. So I try to accept people, but not the situation. Religion is a bad situation IMO.
I think that the doctor's oath, "Do no harm", is more effective and direct.
However pleasant the wrapping, this woman is still doing Stan's bidding.
Exact date?
Then it sounds like I am, at least so far as I understand you, in agreement you. There's no reason why we can't keep the good things that work and throw out the bad things that don't.
I would prefer people don't buy into the "mystical mumbo jumbo", but to each their own.
@neuromatiker I actually think she would agree that you do not need to be religious to be moral.
@stevenweir76: sounds like conflicting definitions of compassion :) Religion, when it means blind faith, can be quite devastating. However, accepting that we are a world with a majority of people identifying as religious, it would, to me, seem like a total waste not to try to spread understanding between religions. As Armstrong says here, the core meaning of religion is not blind faith but action according to noble principles...
I agree.
But there is nothing wrong with a 2 pronged attack/defence. Good cop, bad cop. As a rational thinker i can choose both.
I do have a slight problem with Armstrong's approach and that's that she's promoting religion albeit that it's a human trait. I don't require religion to tell me I'm a good person. Judge me on my actions.
I liked her point on politicians causing wars but religion being the fault-line.
Essentially I'm saying i prefer to open eyes rather than condone being blinkered.
the main flaw in her argument is the "golden rule" itself.
The golden rule bases itself on your own ego
"dont do to others what YOU wont like done to YOURSELF"
Daniel Dennett pointed this flaw out in one of his lectures. (the "would-you-want-to-have-sex" study on students where males/females have different expectations of "what they dont want done to them")
the golden rule is self centered, and demanding to let go of ego in the same context is a contradiction.
it is a start tho.
I am an agnostic Pandeist and I think it is largely intolerant to put down religions, no matter how unintelligent or ridiculous they can be or are. I do not find the broad religions such as christianity, islam, and judaism to be evil or idiotic. I believe the political religions are the ones that I am both afraid of as well as intolerant of. These ones include, especially in america, religious conservatism, protestantism such as mormonism, and any type of religion focused on putting down a group
I am also not strictly stoic as I do not deify the universe, but percieve the universe only for what I can perceive it as, a place where we exist. What we can accomplish with that is up to us. Those who worship Gods are waiting to die. I am living this life as though it is all I have, for that is what I believe, and I have no other reason to believe otherwise. We all have to die, but our time is now, not to be wasted worshipping false entities.
Matthew 10:34 - "I come not to bring peace, but to bring a sword"
It is you who shows bias, that the scripture and thus, the doctrince can't promote evil. It can, and it does.
Jesus spoke in parables. You are a fool for misinterpreting that parable and spreading your message.
In revelation 2.16 Jesus said "Repent or else I will come unto you quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth." This is the word of God that we cannot fight against because it shows us the sin in our hearts.... The metaphor of a sword is quite popular, in this case, philosophies or words do separate families and nations (this is not his wish, but a fact of life) profound words can also pierce through the hardest of hearts. Once you read the new testament, you can quickly conclude that Jesus was a pacifist, and inviting to war would be to take his words out of context. (By the way, I am not a Christian but a Buddhist who reads the New Testament and anything else that I find of value, because truth is truth regardless of the source)
@@playmesalsa I did not reach the conclusion that the character Jesus was a pacifist. I reached the conclusion that he was an amalgamation of myths that was hateful and hypocritical. Mathew 10:34.
@aquariumgoldfish Religious truth, my friend, is relative and not absolute. As man advances, new religious truths suitable to our time are manifested to guide man forward. However, the essential truths (oneness of God, compassion, equity, love, harmony, unity, justice, etc.) remain the eternal truths.
The crafters of any charter that has to do with religion has to take into consideration the more occult aspects of each religion, the practises that allow the mind to be more spiritual (meditation, prayer). Please don't make it secular where the crux of religion is lost. Love that she understands the importance of proper interpretation of scripts. Scripts were never written by the geniuses themselves (Buddha, Jesus, Mohammad), but by lesser individuals, many centuries after the revelations