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In the wake of the COVID pandemic, economic challenges and racial tensions which have swept across the US and around the world throughout 2020, it has never been more clear that deeper compassion is essential to resolve our personal, local, regional, and global challenges.
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Since the dawn of the "gay liberation movement" in the 1960's, through the AIDS epidemic of the 80's and 90's, the fight for marriage equality and human rights around the world, compassion is clearly what unites us as a diverse LGBTQ+ community and as global citizens having voices locally and on the world stage.
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How can we personally deepen compassion in our lives to transform our selves and the world around us? The answer is simple, but the challenge of the ages... treat others as we want to be treated ourselves. The Charter for Compassion provides a framework.
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Charter for Compassion
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The best idea humanity has ever had…
The Charter for Compassion is a document created through the TED Prize that transcends religious, ideological, and national differences. Supported by leading thinkers from many traditions, the Charter activates the Golden Rule around the world. The Charter for Compassion is a cooperative effort to restore not only compassionate thinking but, more importantly, compassionate action to the center of religious, moral and political life. Compassion is the principled determination to put ourselves in the shoes of the other, and lies at the heart of all religious and ethical systems.
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In Fall 2008, people of all nations, all faiths, all backgrounds, submitted their own words for inclusion in the Charter. 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 over 150,000 visitors. These contributions were then reviewed by the Council of Conscience and incorporated into the final document.
And there's now a Charter for Schools (below)
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The Charter
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
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 indispensable to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community. |
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School Charter
Join a global movement to bring compassion to our schools!
Students: Integrate the Charter with your video, music or other arts projects.
School Staff: Adopt the Charter for your school.
Students: Integrate the Charter with your video, music or other arts projects.
School Staff: Adopt the Charter for your school.
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We - the students, teachers, staff, and parents of (named place of learning) declare our shared commitment to the following principles, and pledge to hold ourselves and one another accountable to their realization.
We recognize that every person shares a common humanity capable both of happiness and suffering. We pledge in our words and actions to treat everyone in this school community as we would wish to be treated, to help those around us who are in need, and to make amends when we cause another pain. We recognize that we are a school with different abilities, body sizes, races, religions, classes, gender identities and sexual orientations. We pledge to step into the shoes of others and see how things look from their point of view, especially when we disagree or find ourselves in conflict. |
We recognize that intolerance and hatred cause suffering and that that when we stand by doing nothing, or laugh or post comments online when others bully, we contribute to the problem. We pledge to stand up to bullying and make this a school where everyone belongs.
In signing, we commit to practice the values in this Charter within our school community; in our daily interactions, whether teacher-to-teacher, teacher-to-student, or student-to-student; and in the projects we undertake within our community and in the world. 
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