Compassion. Read. Consider. Sign. Live.

The Charter for Compassion

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 ~ to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as enemies.

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.

I encourage you.  Please affirm with your name.  Embrace commitments of compassion the charter offers.  Commit to your own.  Share.  Live with, by, and for compassion.

Stop Bullying: Speak Up Pledge

We all have the power to stop bullying by getting involved and performing simple actions that can make a difference in others' lives.  Together we can create a community that is committed to ending bullying.  So join me in taking the pledge to Stop Bullying:  Speak Up today.
                          Stop Bullying:  Speak Up pledge
                          http://www.facebook.com/stopbullyingspeakup
     I urge you to take the Stop Bullying:  Speak Up pledge today.
Whether it be with children, teens, adults--whatever the age--our words matter.  It does NOT matter whether  or not we know the individuals.  EVERYONE deserves basic, human respect.  Suicides have resulted, and self-respect damaged over feelings regarding sexual orientation, disabilities, and appearance, to name a few, that have been used as justifications for bullying.  Please take this pledge.
     Expedite necessary action. First, press http://www.facebook.com/stopbullyingspeakup.  Second, press the Take the Pledge icon.  Third, add your name.  Fourth, press the Like button.  Identify yourself as a teen or an adult.  Share the Stop Bullying:  Speak Up pledge with your friends.
     Further action may be taken, if you so choose.  First, you may add a Comment to your Pledge Signature.  You may join groups of others concerned.  Other options are offered on the Stop Bullying:  Speak Up  Facebook page.
     Most powerful are the words you speak--the words you tolerate.   Actions you take--actions you tolerate matter as well.

The Right Questions...Proper Fines...Rehabilitation...

     I confess that I am not a huge sports fan.  I listen for human profiles--human insights--within sports.
     This week, National Basketball Association [NBA] player, Kobe Bryant was fined $100,000 for uttering a racial slur at a referee.  NBA President David Stern imposed the fine to convey that the NBA was a family-friendly form of entertainment that would not endorse such behavior--such attitudes.  Criticism has been made regarding the amount of  the fine in proportion to the player's annual salary.
     I pose a different question regarding the offense, and its corresponding fine.  What impact would the imposition of fines have if they required community service relevant to the offense?  Adjustments to the ratio of the fine to the offender's income should be implicit in sentencing standards, or fines assignments standards.
     Community service seems like an easy way out--a soft sentence to impose.  Yet, it does not need to be, if properly imposed--properly administered.
     In the justice system, sentencing is supposed to be commensurate with the proven crime.  Unanimous agreement does not exist regarding the definition of commensurate.  However, that is no excuse for pursuing a definition.
     What might commensurate community service be?  First, it must be based on positive actions to lessen the occurrence of relevant offenses, in this case, hate speech.  Second, three groups must be identified.
     First, to what group, or organization is the offender accountable.  Is it a sports team?  Is it a professional association?  Is it some other institution?
     Second, who were the people incriminated?  Children?  Colleagues?  Adults?  Others?
    Third, to whom is the offender a role model?  Children? Parents?  Pet owners?  Teachers?  Religious leaders?  Others?
     Fourth, what might some commensurate community service be for an athlete?
     Speaking to fans at games at a pre-determined time within the game, and for a specified time period--once in each city played during the season?  Speaking to recruits during the training season for the sport involved?
     These are just two ideas.  I am not beholden to them.  My intent is to spur thought.
     In the U.S. judicial system, there are federal sentencing guidelines, which have been established to ensure consistency, and definitions of commensurate.  It seems that other organizations might take a cue from the U.S. judicial system.
     Kobe Bryant is not the first, nor the last athlete to engage in hate speech.  His offense can be a teaching moment for everyone--the news spotlight is on, and it is up to us to use it.

Lip Servers to Our Days or Civil Servants to Our Precious Lives

     Evil.  Heinous Act.  Enemy.  Vitriol.  Lip Server.  Civil Servant.
Listening to coverage of the shootings in Tuscon, I have been struck by the words we use to describe harsh experiences--harsh realities.  It is not to say that harsh words should be avoided, at all costs--at the further, unintended impacts they may have.  
     Evil has not been blared from the megaphone of Tuscon's experience.  Thank God.  May we commit ourselves to not embrace Evil--be it not in our explanations of actions taken.  Evil's Stinger is deep.  Deeper than we may realize.  
     Heinous Act?  Yes.  In the Vocabulary of our Culture's Speech, Heinous Act does not have Evil's stinger.
     Heinous Act possesses the same precision in its attack on our soul.
     Harsh words--harsh realities--call for us to be anesthetized.  Our spirits--our souls--must be strengthened--not calloused--by our wound's healing.  From our anesthetized wounds, we must commit ourselves to remember the color of our wound in the person we live on to be--to become.  Our wound may lose her sting.  Her color may fade.  Yet, her lessons to the better persons we might be must be heard.  Her lessons must be given voice in the persons we live on to be.   
     May we never enunciate the words, "the Enemy," to explain a Heinous Act.  May we not ignite the vehicle Enemy offers to transport our wounded soul.  May we never be a lip server--an endorser of The Enemy's word.    
     I pray Vitriol's lesson may be our guidepost on our journey to Civility. 
May we be Civil Servants to our lives, not Lip Servers to our moments--to each day we are given to live.
     I am hope-filled.  A fool I may be.  Yet, rather a hope-filled fool than a cynic's champion, or a skeptic's slave I hope to be. 

Hate Speech

     In recent weeks, bullying, and other abhorrent expressions of disrespect.  I am compelled to offer a different perspective to hate speech.

     Every instance of hate speech is a call to individuals and society to examine the response that will eliminate the source of hatred - a response that reflects the values of society toward each individual and group.  Instances of hate speech cannot be dismissed as affecting only individuals or small groups - hate speech affects the integrity with which everyone in society lives.                                                           We have a responsibility to convey moral outrage, and engage in declarative acts of living that make clear that hate speech is not acceptable.