Where in the World is Compassion?
By Nazli Siddiqui
TX
“May the goodness of earth prevail and its creatures learn to live compassionately, generously and peacefully…” was the highlight of the welcome address by Sister Martha Kirk, Religion Professor of the University of Incarnate Word. Among the audience were people who identified themselves as members of different ethnic and religious backgrounds. On the walls was an exhibit of photos and stories from a research sponsored by Gülen Institute captioned: “Iraqi Women of Three Generations: Challenges, Education, and Hopes for Peace.”
Every table had a branch of olive, the symbol of peace, held up by someone at the table in affirmation to the message supporting the creation of ongoing relationships for the common good. The event was an interfaith forum, the Compassion Conference 2012, held from March 24-26, under the blazing question: “Where in the World is Compassion?”
Those at the heart of the conference tried to answer those questions in the light of their own philosophies through individual orations, panel presentations, table discussions, and focus circles.
“We live in a world that is not getting safer…The level of discourse is so confrontational, it is combative…” This was the enigma posed to the attendees by Dr John Esposito, Professor of Religion, International Affairs and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University, Founding Director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding in the Walsh School of Foreign Service; the author of ‘Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think,’ and more than 45 books and monographs.
Dr Esposito identified lack of compassion as a manifestation of violence, terrorism, undetected exploitation, brutal capitalism, dogma, combat, religious exclusionism, self-righteousness, intolerance, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and anti-immigrant sentiments. He claimed there could be no dialogue without investigation into the foundation of any religion, affirming his belief that universal humanitarianism and universal altruism were the path to universal compassion. He emphasized that life was supposed to be a positive, happy experience, and humanity should be able to look forward to a future with a healthy, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic world view.
“Man is the noblest of God’s creations and is charged with exercising the best of behavior under all circumstances, based on the ethic of compassion….” was the straightforward argument by Dr Ali Asani, Professor of Indo-Muslim and Islamic Religion and Cultures, Faculty of Arts & Science, where he uses art forms such as poetry, music and calligraphy in combating ignorance about Islam and Muslim cultures. He is the Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Director of Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University, and member of the Council of Conscience which crafted the Charter for Compassion.
Dr. Asani who has dedicated himself to eradicating “religious illiteracy” for the past 30 years, cited vivid examples from the history of Islam to illustrate the spirit of compassion in the theory and practice of the faith.
Among other participants were local leaders of various religious backgrounds– Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism - who presented their own vision on world compassion.
The conference concluded with the opportunity of signing of the Charter for Compassion originally conceived by scholar and author Karen Armstrong. To date the Charter has acquired a worldwide following. According to Armstrong, “In our global village, everybody is our neighbor, and it is essential to make allies of our enemies.” She wishes to unite the world around compassion. Can you join the quest?
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