Golden Rule Radical

Posted By David on January 25, 2010

Love all God’s creation, the whole of it and every grain of sand. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light! Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. And once you have perceived it, you will begin to comprehend it ceaselessly, more and more every day. And you will at last come to love the whole world with an abiding, universal love. - from The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky

I spent quite some time reflecting on this quote. I haven’t read The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky’s last novel, but I can find a lot that resonates with me in these words. Realizing the interconnectedness of all things is not a modern invention. Indeed, it is the most ancient of human philosophies. Never before in our history, however, have we been in a position to perceive it, as Dostoevsky puts it, so directly or in such detail.

No longer do we need to use metaphor to connect suffering in one part of the world with its effect on another. We can see, instantly, the results of war, famine, catastrophe. We can see our own reaction; watch relief planes take off in the morning, and watch them land half a world away in the afternoon. We can pack a blanket in a box, put it in a care package, and watch it opened live and in color by someone shivering from the cold.

We can also see what happens when we fail to respond; when we ignore the animals, the plants, and the grains of sand. We can watch polar bears drown, or villages be washed away, or forests disappear before our eyes. Google Earth and other tools let us zoom in on places that the news could never take us; blogs and discussion forums help us gain insight into other cultures and other individuals in a detail that was impossible only a couple of years ago.

Failing to perceive the “divine mystery” in all things is not a sustainable way to live as a culture; as a species. Learning to love the whole world with “an abiding, universal love” is an essential step in maturing as a civilization; as humanity.

May we use all the tools we have, technological and philosophical, to bring that about.

Category: Mutuality | 473No Comments »http://goldenruleradical.org/archives/every-grain-of-sandEvery+Grain+of+Sand2010-01-26+03%3A49%3A08David
Tags: Agapé, cultures, god, Golden Rule, insight, interconnectedness, love, Mutuality, philosophies, reciprocity, suffering

Posted By David on January 17, 2010

There are no words I could type that could add anything to what has already been said and depicted in regards to the horrific destruction in Haiti.

The only thing more tragic than what happened to hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of moments is the certain knowledge that the suffering that began then will not end for years to come.

In a tremendous example of the Golden Rule in action, the world has responded.

In the days, weeks, months, and indeed years ahead, we will need to continue to respond. There will be mistakes. There will be criticism. There will be more tragedy. Those of small spirit will focus on those and delight in calling attention to examples of the imperfection of humanity.

There will also be triumphs. There will be cooperation. There will be relationships forged between individuals, communities, and nations. Those who look for the emergence of agape, the operation of the Principle of Mutuality in the world, will hold these relationships up as examples of what humanity can aspire to.

May we aspire greatly.

Category: Agapé | 470No Comments »http://goldenruleradical.org/archives/haiti-earthquake-and-compassionHaiti+Earthquake+and+Compassion2010-01-18+02%3A54%3A28David
Tags: compassion, cooperation, Golden Rule, Mutuality, Principle of Mutuality, relationship, spirit, suffering, tragedy

Posted By David on January 10, 2010

If we take the world’s religions at their best, we discover the distilled wisdom of the human race – Huston Smith

Finding fault with religion is easy. All human endevour is fallible; and religion, being humanity’s attempt to understand “life, the universe, and everything”  as Douglas Adams says, is no exception. 

The challenge in Smith’s comment is to understand what the ”best” of religion is. When I first became interested in interfaith dialogue I realized that what spoke to me most clearly were the threads of commonality that existed in all faiths. The differences that arose from particular times, or societies, or locations couldn’t disguise the common themes of justice, and equality, and compassion.

For those who claim that there must be one “right” way to “believe”, one faith above all others, those commonalities are buried under layers of doctrine and dogma; of extremism and cultural context. They feel the differences far outweigh the similarities.

In one way they’re right.

When prospectors go looking for gold, they know full well that they’ll have to sift through tons of mud and stone to find a few small nuggets.

When harvesters thresh grain, they know full well that there will be many times more straw and chaff than kernels of wheat.

If either of them measured the value of their effort by measuring the weight of what they keep against what they throw away, neither would think their reward worth the work.

When we think that the mud or the chaff are more important than the gold or the wheat, we go home poor and hungry.

We cannot measure the value of the underlying principles of faith by the “weight” of the mud and chaff of doctrine that has accumulated on top of them. We have to willing to wash away the mud; to winnow out the chaff.

To distill the wisdom.

Category: Golden Rule | 467No Comments »http://goldenruleradical.org/archives/distilled-wisdomDistilled+Wisdom2010-01-11+03%3A37%3A06David
Tags: compassion, equality, Ethic of Reciprocity, faith, Golden Rule, justice, kernel of truth, wisdom

Posted By David on December 31, 2009

I am the sum of all my commitments – Martin Buber (1878-1965), philosopher

Shortly after writing this article, I became aware of Free the Children’s 10×10 Challenge:

I hope that you’ll take a few minutes to visit 10 by 10 and make 10 simple commitments for 2010.

I did.

Do you make New Year’s resolutions?
Although there was a time when we attached a great deal of significance to the idea of a fresh start for a fresh year, today, at least in North America, we’re not very serious about them. The commitment to lose weight, balance our chequebook, or walk to work twice a week often doesn’t last beyond the first real temptation.

If, as Buber suggests, we’re “the sum of our commitments”, what is it that we’re committed to?

And if that’s true for us individually, how much more is our society, and our world, the sum of those things we are all committed to?

As not only a new year but a new decade dawns, perhaps the time is right to renew our commitment to compassion, and to creating a Golden Rule world.

I’d like to invite you to leave your commitments in the comments section of this article. By sharing our ideas, our hopes, and our efforts, we can inspire each other to accomplish extraordinary things.

May 2010 be the year that we celebrate our diversity – in unity

David

Category: Agapé, Change, Mutuality | 4531 Comment »http://goldenruleradical.org/archives/new-years-commitmentsNew+Years+Commitments2009-12-31+23%3A04%3A50David
Tags: commitment, compassion, Ethic of Reciprocity, Golden Rule, new year, new years resolutions, peace, resolution, unity in diversity

Posted By David on December 4, 2009

It was a century between the gathering of the World’s Congress of Religions in Chicago, Illinois; and the first meeting of the Parliament of the World’s Religions.

Since 1993, the Parliament, founded on the principles embodied in that first interfaith meeting, has convened every five years to explore the unity the exists within our diversity.

They are gathering again now, in Melbourne, Australia.

Click the image above to find out more.

Category: Golden Rule, Mutuality | 441No Comments »http://goldenruleradical.org/archives/parliament-of-the-worlds-religions-melbourneParliament+of+the+World%27s+Religions+-+Melbourne2009-12-05+02%3A26%3A07David
Tags: chicago illinois, congress, diversity, faith, interfaith, melbourne australia, parliament, religion, unity

Posted By David on November 18, 2009

You may call God love, you may call God goodness. But the best name for God  is compassion. - Meister Eckhart (1260-1327), Christian mystic and theologian

I often drop into Wondercafe, a forum site sponsored by The United Church of Canada. While it can be as fractious a place as any on the ‘Net, it has maintained a remarkably civil tone over the three years or so of its existence. That tone, I think, has enabled a surprisingly diverse group of people to share their thoughts and beliefs and to recognize in each a unity in their diversity.

From conservative to liberal to atheist, many have contributed to an array of discussions – including the eternal ethical question of “why should we be good?”

That question was raised again in the thread When it comes right down to it….., when the originator asked: Money, possessions and attributes will go unheeded so what do you think? Should we live day to day the best we can because in the long run that’s all that matters.

One of the responders in the thread said in part:  It’s the only life you can be sure you get. Live it well. It’s a fairly simple philosophy, but I like it.  …

One of the most compelling aspects of the Golden Rule for me is its simplicity. As Hillel is written to have said – all the rest is commentary. That doesn’t mean it’s unimportant. But it puts things in their proper order.

Meister Eckhart didn’t say that God calls us to compassion. Nor that we show compassion as a result of a relationship with God. He said that the best name for God is compassion.

That understanding of ”God” makes the Divine inseparable from us, because compassion is expressed through us. Even those who see no God at all in the universe agree to the need for compassion and understand that we are all part of one world, no matter how we perceive it’s foundation.

Nature is often breathtakingly beautiful. It is also often agonizingly ruthless. God does not intervene to deny us the former, nor to spare us the latter. Whether that is because, as my atheist friends would insist, God doesn’t exist, or whether it’s for a different reason know only to God, doesn’t really matter.  

What matters is that compassion, the capacity to put ourselves in the place of another and then to choose to act to help, or not, is entirely up to us.

Compassion, it seems to me, is the ultimate expression of “being good.” There is no doctrine, no law, no statute, that requires us to be “compassionate.” It requires no courts to enforce it, no organizations to administer it, no referendums to enact it.

On the Charter for Compassion website, visitors are invited to share acts of compassion that they have been part of or experienced. There are no stories of huge government projects or multinational charities. There are hundreds of anecdotes of individuals and small groups taking a few moments or a few hundred hours to reach out to each other.

We may call compassion the name of God, or we may call it human nature; we may label it the “Golden Rule”, the “Ethic of Reciprocity”, or just common sense; we may find it’s source in theology or in science. All of those things are commentary. This is the whole of it – that  we act toward one another as if we and the ‘other’ were one.

It’s a simple philosophy, but I like it.

Category: Agapé | 431No Comments »http://goldenruleradical.org/archives/a-simple-philosophy-but-i-like-itA+Simple+Philosophy%2C+But+I+Like+It2009-11-19+03%3A08%3A02David
Tags: atheist, charter for compassion, diversity, Ethic of Reciprocity, existence, faith, god, Golden Rule, goodness, hillel, human nature, meister eckhart, mystic, philosophy, reciprocity, relationship, relationship with god, religion, simplicity, united church of canada, unity, universe

Posted By David on November 17, 2009

From the Interfaith Desk of Scarboro Missions:

On November 5, another Golden milestone was achieved in the growing global Golden Rule-Interfaith movement:

Scarboro Missions’ Golden Rule packages, containing the Golden Rule poster, the new Golden Rule movie, and other Golden Rule materials, were enthusiastically, graciously and gratefully received in Washington, by the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives.

The packages were presented by Sam Muyskens, the former Executive Director of Interfaith Ministries, Wichita, Kansas (one of the four invited executives attending the historic event).

Several long-term executives of local/grassroots interfaith organizations practising community-based “Dialogue in Action” were invited to join the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighbourhood Partnerships, including Elliot Gershenson, Rabbi George Stein, as well as Sam Muyskens. Also in attendance were White House Staff Arie Alexander, Mara Vanderslice and John Kelly.

Although the President himself was not present, Sam Muyskens has conveyed to Paul McKenna, the Interfaith Coordinator of Scarboro Missions, that he feels “certain that the packages for President Obama will be reviewed”.

Category: Golden Rule | 428No Comments »http://goldenruleradical.org/archives/white-house-embraces-golden-ruleWhite+House+Embraces+Golden+Rule2009-11-18+04%3A18%3A29David
Tags: dialogue, faith, Golden Rule, Golden Rule poster, interfaith, interfaith movement, interfaith organizations, obama, office of faith based initiatives, paul mckenna, unity, white house

Posted By David on November 15, 2009

In just two days, the Charter for Compassion was affirmed by ten thousand people. That number is now over thirteen thousand and climbing. If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to take a moment and add your signature to both the Charter for Compassion and the Golden Rule Resolution.

A number of events have been held, or are being planned, to mark the launching of the Charter. You can find a list of events on the Charter site and, if you’d like to host an event, you can add it to the directory.

Several very professional videos have been produced as well and are listed as resources on the Charter’s website. While they’re very good, I think that this one, “Australians on Compassion”, captures the reality that the change we need must come, not from our leaders; not even from great thinkers like Karen Armstrong; but from each and every one of us acting and expecting compassion from each other, from businesses, and from government.

Category: Change | 418No Comments »http://goldenruleradical.org/archives/charter-of-compassion-ten-thousand-in-two-daysCharter+for+Compassion+-+Ten+Thousand+in+Two+Days2009-11-15+22%3A37%3A13David
Tags: charter for compassion, global voice, golden rule petition, petition for peace

Posted By David on November 12, 2009

The Charter for Compassion will be unveiled today, November 12, 2009, at the United Nations.

The Charter is the creation of not only Karen Armstrong, who provided the impetus, but also the result of contributions from  over 150,000 people worldwide who submitted their own thoughts and comments to the Charter’s website.

 Surely, if God, Gaia, Humanity – whatever name you choose to use to identify the commonality that links us all – is to be found in the still, small voices of each of us, this joining together of whispers should collectively create a great universal shout for compassion around the globe.

A Council of Conscience, a group of 18 noted leaders in the realm of religion and social justice, took up the challenge to unify those diverse voices into one.

The Charter is the voice, not of one person; not of one group. It is the voice of all of us, of a world.

We should listen to ourselves.

The Charter for Compassion’s Council of Conscience:

• Salman Ahmad
• Ali Asani
• Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell
• Sadhvi Chaitanya
• Bishop John Bryson Chane
• Sister Joan Chittister
• Sheikh Ali Gomaa
• Mohsen Kadivar
• Chandra Muzaffar
• Baroness Julia Neuberger
• Tariq Ramadan
• Rabbi David Saperstein
• Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp
• Rev. Peter Storey
• Ha Vinh Tho
• Tu Wei Ming
• Archbishop Desmond Tutu
• Jean Zaru

Karen Armstrong

Category: Mutuality | 4121 Comment »http://goldenruleradical.org/archives/charter-for-compassions-collective-voiceCharter+for+Compassion%27s+Collective+Voice2009-11-12+06%3A00%3A28David
Tags: charter for compassion, commonality, compassion, diversity, Ethic of Reciprocity, gaia, global challenges, global civilization, global voice, god, Golden Rule, karen armstrong, religion, unity

Posted By David on November 9, 2009

Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages - Thomas Edison (1847-1931)

Karen Armstrong’s Charter for Compassion, it’s roots firmly planted in the principle we call the “Golden Rule”, recognizes not only the presence of mutuality in religion, but also in secular moral codes and ethics.

I’m not sure that we would, today, say that evolution has a “goal” as Edison suggested. We understand its randomness better after a century and more of study. We also, however, have a growing body of evidence that demonstrates that it favours species that cooperate. And even more that it favors species that cooperate not only with their own group, but with other groups and species, to live in a mutually beneficial synergy. While some might argue the source of that favoritism, I think that it is most important to simply acknowledge that it exists. For it seems to me that it’s on that desire for cooperation that much of what we call compassion rests.

The founders of our great religions and philosophies saw the potential that humanity has as part of Creation; as part of the universe. They knew full well that in their times and places we hadn’t reached that potential; that we were still, as Edison put it, a long way from the goal. But they also knew that we could reach it.

Now, for the first time in our history, we have the ability to see the world, not just in its diversity, but also in the unity within that diversity. Cooperation, and harm, have taken on new and more urgent meanings.

It’s time, perhaps, to look again at the potential our revered figures saw in us, at the goal that Edison suggested evolution has for us, and to embrace the compassion that mutuality demands of us.

Category: Change | 410No Comments »http://goldenruleradical.org/archives/the-goal-of-evolutionThe+Goal+of+Evolution2009-11-10+03%3A20%3A48David
Tags: charter for compassion, compassion, cooperation, Ethic of Reciprocity, ethics, Golden Rule, karen armstrong, Mutuality, non-violence, religious diversity, religious pluralism