Karen Armstrong: 2008 TED Prize wish: Charter for Compassion

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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.

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28 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 437

@wilsonlorialitandtheater 14 лет назад

She is definitely an amazingly brilliant mind! Thank you, Karen.

@EstherCrawford 16 лет назад

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

@zarinabhatia2914 8 лет назад

Having gone through a lot in Life's Journey this TED Talk of hers is an inspiring one with a Global Impact.

@jkovert 6 лет назад

Nonsense.

@tangoturb 15 лет назад

She represents what TED is all about. I am listening to a speech wonderfully told, well constructed, and most importantly stack full of truth.

@koprinurzen7761 Год назад

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...

@essence830 3 года назад

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 . .

@jdf_132 8 месяцев назад

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...

@Benjiw343 16 лет назад

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.

@bdnlzg 7 месяцев назад

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.

@michaelwalling8281 8 лет назад

"de-throne yourself". I like that.

@adrianenascimento8310 6 лет назад

O que falta para o mundo é compaixão. Carta para compaixão ❤ mensagem boa

@Reimprimatur 16 лет назад

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!

@macpanah 9 лет назад

Wonderful message. I hope this charter of compassion spreads quickly for humanity's sake :)

@ahorst2 2 года назад

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.

@Couchtripper 13 лет назад

@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.

@bohemiandeborah 14 лет назад

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.

@eduvisioncanada 13 лет назад

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?

@ADARSHKWARMAN Год назад

May Peace Prevail On Earth

@miyongi6155 6 лет назад

Cultura religiosa Ulbra 🙋

@karolinea3500 6 лет назад

Hahahaha, eu também!

@priscilacruz7962 6 лет назад

Estamos aí também, cultura religiosa Ulbra

@rafaellp014 6 лет назад

é noses kkkkk

@NCamargodnb 6 лет назад

Pois então...kkkk

@annaoliveira1531 6 лет назад

tamu junto!! ahahahah

@vilgessuola 16 лет назад

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.

@olsome2 15 лет назад

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.

@olsome2 15 лет назад

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.

@bohemiandeborah 13 лет назад

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.

@InvaderZigg Год назад

Watched this for David. RIP ✌️🕊

@vilgessuola 16 лет назад

OK,I give in. You are the expert on reasoned arguments.

@vilgessuola 16 лет назад

''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)

@stevenweir76 15 лет назад

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.

@seekerout 11 лет назад

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.

@bernarditu 15 лет назад

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!!

@irajkhodadoost 13 лет назад

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

@tubette1 16 лет назад

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!

@TupacMakaveli1996 5 лет назад

i came with ridicule, i am leaving with love and compassion!

@stevenweir76 15 лет назад

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.

@stevenweir76 15 лет назад

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.

@HenrySoinnunmaa 14 лет назад

@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 13 лет назад

@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.

@ahmadtharwat2670 2 года назад

We need more and more of the woman in leadership positions

@vilgessuola 16 лет назад

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'?

@olsome2 15 лет назад

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

@vilgessuola 15 лет назад

I give in. Please put us out of our suspense and tell us.

@irishcousinred 4 года назад

thank you for this

@wealtheow62 15 лет назад

Did you actually listen to what she said? She's saying that religion needs to STOP being "boatloads of crazy people telling the sane and rational folk that they are wrong." She's saying religion needs to revive the golden rule: "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." I am not a religious person. I do not believe in God. But any person, religious or not, who believes in treating others as you would like to be treated yourself deserves my respect.

@Kaalec 14 лет назад

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.

@stevenweir76 15 лет назад

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.

@stevenweir76 15 лет назад

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.

@strad1736 16 лет назад

Bravo!!!!

@adihrespati 16 лет назад

Why does the wish involves only the three Abrahamic traditions; Why doesn't Armstrong involve Buddha? (she certainly spoke highly of it in her book on Buddha)

@imaginativelads 12 лет назад

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.

@macwoof 14 лет назад

wow, it is amazing how so many posters completely missed the point she was making about compassion and religion.

@stevenweir76 15 лет назад

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.

@AppaJoos 4 года назад

Jesus spoke in parables. You are a fool for misinterpreting that parable and spreading your message.

@playmesalsa 4 года назад

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)

@stevenweir76 4 года назад

@@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.

@stevenweir76 14 лет назад

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.

@uuduu7 14 лет назад

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..

@veganangel68 16 лет назад

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.

@stevenweir76 15 лет назад

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.

@TRAdamTM 16 лет назад

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.

@vilgessuola 16 лет назад

The answer to all these questions is neither A nor B. Like every other religion, Islam is man made, and its writings reflect the morals of the age in which they were written.

@gotrootdude 15 лет назад

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?

@irajkhodadoost 13 лет назад

@jamesharrel I think there is an element of truth in what you say - although she has evolved through years with her writing as well.

@purrrradise Год назад

cats are people too

@Durakken 15 лет назад

This shows how intelligent and good hearted people can be incredibly wrong. The fact that she focused on and excluded other religions and set as a guiding point 1 religious family shows the underlying bigotry and the thought that she thinks that religion has been hijacked is just flat wrong to anyone who has actually read the texts. This is precisely the reason those wars that she claimed don't happen because of religion actually happen... kind of ironic when you think about it.

@pkpapers 3 года назад

Exact date?

@12ut5 16 лет назад

truthandtruthonly, I disagree that I forgot to include anything. Do I think Islam is a "religion of peace?" No. Do I see the contradiction between no compulsion and apostasy, etc? Yes (Makes me happy not to be Muslim until I consider that it is an imperative in Islam to conquer the world for Allah.). Does Armstrong not get any of this about Islam? I think she doesn't. But, if what she is talking about, here, is done by Muslims, seriously, both Muslims and non-Muslims will be better off for it.

@sheepwshotguns 16 лет назад

what does religion do that philosophy cannot do better, while at the same time being more intellectually honest?

@victorjcano 3 года назад

Religious Fundamentalist of all faiths need to listen to this. Most Atheist already understand this

@GOAQ 16 лет назад

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.

@stevenweir76 15 лет назад

I would read it.

@stevenweir76 15 лет назад

"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)

@movingpicutres99 8 месяцев назад

❤❤❤

@vilgessuola 16 лет назад

There is a huge difference between cutting someone from a will, and throwing them into hell for eternity. Bad analogy. If my children rejected me I would certainly not reject them.

@Pythagoras211 11 лет назад

To be honest with you, she has her reasons for minimizing the importance of verses in the Koran, Talmud and the Bible that seem to condone violence. To understand those reasons you need to understand her belief system thoroughly (you haven't shown that you do). As a scholar she has duty to tell the truth, but she is also a humanist, as a humanist she has a duty to promote tolerance and more important religious values (ie. compassion).

@stevenweir76 15 лет назад

The hooligans as you call them, are the crowd.

@luisschu5380 6 лет назад

Sonha ULBRA que eu vou ver esse video ! hahahahahah

@renatadepaula9217 3 года назад

Se passou 2 anos, e eles ainda pedem pra assistir hahaha.

@vilgessuola 16 лет назад

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.

@stevenweir76 15 лет назад

That happens anyway. Christianity or not, every person reacts this way. No-one appreciates arrogance, but everyone appreciates people trying to help them.The bizarre part for me is that I think we probably agree on a lot more than you realize, I just see no need to invoke the supernatural. I can try to put myself in someone else's shoes. No magic required. I can't understand why society doesn't have meetings like those in church,but without the supernatural. Religion alienates me based on logic.

@crudhousefull 13 лет назад

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

@irajkhodadoost 13 лет назад

@frid9999 I am neither Christian, Jew, or a Moslem. But it is my understanding that a lot of harsh laws (including stoning of women) comes from the Old Testament. Submission means accepting our fallibility and humbling ourselves before the Creator...All Abrahamic religions have passages that lead you to believe in the biased and worse treatment of women, etc. I have come across many honorable Jews, Christians, and Moslems who practice the essence of their religion and many who don't... More....

@stevenweir76 15 лет назад

I think many priests and preachers will do whatever they can to get people in. Some of these clergy have some pretty big houses, and some have habits to maintain, and I'm not talking about nuns. If I were a greedy person who was lazy, I would take up religion and tell them whatever they want to hear, and that's what they often do. The church used to allow sins for a fee. This is political gain, and subversion of society. It was a nice relationship they had.

@bethechangeOSU 12 лет назад

@neuromatiker I actually think she would agree that you do not need to be religious to be moral.

@stevenweir76 15 лет назад

It is difficult for people to give others their true value for what they contribute. For instance, janitors usually get near minimum wage, but what how well would we function without them. Would we have our best and brightest working cleaning floors. Those people should be valued more highly and those who play kids games for a living, or whose main goal in life is opulence at the expense of others should not be so well rewarded. But again, it's what is tolerated.

@rekeltje 16 лет назад

Very good idea though! I hope this will become a big thing.

@JohannesBrodwall 16 лет назад

Why only the monotheists to create the charter? Without at least atheist, buddhist and hindu influence, the "charter for compassion" might end up validating the superiority of the abrahamic religions in the minds of many of its followers. Her motive is good, but this is a fatal flaw in the execution.

@HenrySoinnunmaa 14 лет назад

@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...

@stevenweir76 15 лет назад

Yes, I would credit you. Even a blind squirrel gets a nut once in a while. But if you educate yourself, you could more frequently make valid and thoughtful points. But I love that you acknowledge that you should take part in the process, I think you should too. Doctrine is different for different churches, again Christianity has 30000 such doctrines and none are correct in my opinion.

@trntyvnll 15 лет назад

theepilepsy. Bukhari V5B59N459. Narrated Ibn Muhairiz: Part 2 of 2. ".... So when we intended to do coitus interrupt us, we said, 'How can we do coitus interruptus before asking Allah's Apostle who is present among us?" We asked (him) about it and he said, 'It is better for you not to do so, for if any soul (till the Day of Resurrection) is predestined to exist, it will exist."

@rahmankurniawan3520 3 года назад

Who is author similar to karen armstrong?

@Khalid88Nasser 13 лет назад

She is an amazing women =) I read two of her books ; Muhammed, and Islam a short history

@Benjiw343 15 лет назад

I think the basic premise of your argument is wrong, I think your battling otherwise is futile and it's sad that your life seems to be taken up with commenting on this thread. I wish you peace. And I'll ask Karen when I next see her.

@ValeLembrar 10 лет назад

espalhando essa ideia...

@bohemiandeborah 14 лет назад

She has great ideas. But why re-invent the wheel? Someone needs to tell her about the Baha'i Faith. All that she wishes for is already happening. It is embodied in the spiritual and social teachings. And Baha'i has been called the only religion that does not deny any of the others because it offers a way to see the progression of the world's great religions as one ongoing story. Once you see that perspective it just makes so much sense.......and hating is just stupid. Peace.

@allyemmet 11 лет назад

Hello mr Hemmen's class.

@irajkhodadoost 13 лет назад

@bohemiandeborah Unfortunately, Karen Armstrong, in spite of all her knowledge and scholarship, has no knowledge of the Baha'i Faith and makes unfortunate and inaccurate remarks about the origins of the Baha'i Faith in her book, Battle for God. I hope that she comes across this post and finds it necessary to expand her scholarship on the path to true enlightenment.

@maxitalk 16 лет назад

Maybe Karen Armstrong should include atheists and sceptics in her list as well. From some of the comments here, they have their fair share of hatred, extremism and violence.

@neuromatiker 12 лет назад

@bethechangeOSU Well that would be a guess - unless you know her more personally. But what she says is, that religion is not about belief but about acting - and she only see good acts as religious. Just as she thinks we should re-interpret religious texts until we find the good in them. That is clearly just wishfull thinking, as we can many see many religious acts and texts are not good and mutural exclusive.

@stevenweir76 15 лет назад

The very nature of our existence proposes either a natural mechanism for creation, or an uncaring creator, or an imperfect creator. You may think of a logical alternative, but the creator proposed in the Bible is not one of them.

@stevenweir76 15 лет назад

In science every opinion is valid until proven false. If it is quantifiable and testable, it will be discussed and you can be a part of it. When was the last time your church allowed you to open ideas about doctrine, to change meanings of passages?

@bethechangeOSU 12 лет назад

@neuromatiker Jesus said love your enemies. He said forgive them for they know not what they do. It does not make what they do right. We still need to protect society from the harm that others do to their neighbor, which may include incarceration or other means to protect the public from harm. Such actions make my heart boil--but the answer is love, empathy, and forgiveness in our hearts while taking actions needed to protect the public.

@gotrootdude 15 лет назад

SOMETIMES things do end up being real. I agree. That doesn't mean we should mass assumption on top of assumption before we can prove the first assumption correct. Even proving a god created the universe would fail to prove any religion which has built multiple assumptions. Proving god would not prove god still existed, was omniscient, all-powerful, benevolent or any other assumption religion has built. Every religion is based upon lies and false pretenses creating a house of cards.

@vilgessuola 16 лет назад

'He who offers to me only a leaf, or a flower, or a fruit, or even a little water, this I accept from the yearning soul, because with a pure heart it was offered with love.' Bhagavad Gita, 9-12. This makes the Christian concept of God look pretty ugly.

@stevenweir76 15 лет назад

What is good for the gander is not necessarily good for the goose. Rules imposed which bear no effect on morality but are perceived as such. Ie. Perception of homosexuality, can't be resolved in church because of dogma/doctrine. As for power, everybody wants that, but what people don't often realize is just how much they have. I think ultimately, institutions will become obsolete as technology progresses to the extent where people can explore their own lives and give their own meaning to it.

@jamesharrel 14 лет назад

@fctchk This is pontification by someone who spent a considerable amount of her life buying into a way of thinking which she found empty and useless at the end, and now seeks to try to rescue those wasted years by sewing them into a cloak made up of disparate modes which she proudly wears. She is actually very selfish. Her work is the Emperor's New Clothes defined. You cannot ask people to simultaneously embrace and reject their religion--that IS what she's saying.

@SWAMvideos 12 лет назад

Although there is flaw in her conclusion, she is right on several intellectual issues, but she needs the revelation of Peter and of Paul. She did say something that I have not heard before that I agree with: Belief is to love, and when she speaks of the rabbi and teaching the whole of the Torah. Jesus said that as well. The divine is Jesus. Jesus was and is Gods one and only, unique son. That is extreme and true.