On February 28, 2008 Karen Armstrong won the TED Prize and made a wish: for help creating, launching and propagating a Charter for Compassion. Since that day, thousands of people have contributed to the process so that on November 12, 2009 the Charter was unveiled to the world.

It's a simple concept, but yet one that has taunted and alluded humanity for a very long time. The Charter started with a wish. Again, from the Charter Web site ;

There is a movement afoot that asks people to affirm their commitment to thinking compassionately and taking compassionate action. It's know as the Charter for Compassion (The Charter). From their Web site ;

Meet Karen Anderson;

Karen Armstrong is one of the most provocative, original thinkers on the role of religion in the modern world. Armstrong is a former Roman Catholic nun who left a British convent to pursue a degree in modern literature at Oxford. She has written more than 20 books around the ideas of what Islam, Judaism and Christianity have in common, and around their effect on world events, including the magisterial A History of God and Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impact on Today’s World. Her latest book is The Case for God. Her meditations on personal faith and religion (she calls herself a freelance monotheist) spark discussion — especially her take on fundamentalism, which she sees in a historical context, as an outgrowth of modern culture.

TED for those who are not familiar with it;

TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with the annual TED Conference in Long Beach, California, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK, TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Program, the new TEDx community program, this year's TEDIndia Conference and the annual TED Prize.

About the TED Prize;

The TED Prize is designed to leverage the TED community’s exceptional array of talent and resources. It is awarded annually to three exceptional individuals who each receive $100,000 and, much more important, the granting of “One Wish to Change the World.” After several months of preparation, they unveil their wish at an award ceremony held during the TED Conference. These wishes have led to collaborative initiatives with far-reaching impact.

Previous winners include Bono, Bill Clinton, Cameron Sinclair and Jehane Noujaim. The Charter is sponsored by The Fetzer Institute;

A private operating foundation based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the Fetzer Institute engages with people and projects around the world to help bring the power of love, forgiveness and compassion to the center individual and community life. The Institute’s work rests on a deep conviction that each of us has power to transform the world by strengthening the connection between the inner life of mind and spirit with the outer life of service and action. While the Fetzer Institute is not a religious organization, it honors and learns from a variety of spiritual traditions.

The Charter started with contribution of words from around the world.

The Charter for Compassion is an open and collaborative effort. In Fall 2008, people of all nations, all faiths, all backgrounds, submitted their own words for inclusion in the Charter.



The Charter for Compassion is a product of its time, for its time. Using a unique web-based decision making platform, thousands of people from over 100 countries added their voice to the writing of the Charter. In a six week period, thousands of submissions were entered which were then read and commented upon by the sites over 150,000 visitors. These contributions were then sorted through by the Council of Conscience in crafting the final document.

The final document was crafted by a multi-national, multi-faith council who sorted through the submissions to craft the charter. Bios and videos of the council can be found here.

The Charter spoken by the faces of humanity.

When I wrote this post there were 26,985 people who affirmed their belief in the Charter, including me. Please join me by adding your name here. On December 31, 2009, the Charter and the name of the people who have affirmed it will be delivered to 5 world leaders who are involved with conflicts. Please take some time and explore the Web site, and if so inclined, add your name the others who have affirmed the Charter. They provide multiple tools for you to get involved. Let's end the decade on the a positive note and inspired to live and act compassionately.

I doff my hat to Laura who informed me about The Charter. Laura blogs here at JustPeaceNow.

