Meeting of 25 April 2011: ‘Compassion’
All of the world religions consider Compassion to be a virtue. It is also the cornerstone of humanism. The term derived from Latin literally means ‘co-suffering’ and involves empathy and sympathy for the suffering of others. It is recommended that you become familiar with the Charter for Compassion launched by Karen Armstrong in 2009. (See the Charter website http://charterforcompassion.org and/or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_for_Compassion ) Issues that we might consider at the April meeting include:
· Why do some people appear not to be compassionate at all?
· Why are we more compassionate towards some people’s sufferings than others?
· Are religious people more compassionate than others?
· How can compassion be encouraged in whole communities?
· Does the law have a role in encouraging or ensuring compassionate behaviour?