Rasheed Memorial Trust Backs Compassion Charter
A group of about 40 people gathered at the Ponsonby Mosque to celebrate the launch of the Charter for Compassion on 15 November. The meeting was organised by Aarif Rasheed representing the Rasheed Memorial Trust and Dave Moskovitz representing the New Zealand Jewish Council and the Union for Progressive Judaism. The meeting began with a brief text study from the Gospels, the Torah, and the Koran on the role of central role of compassion in our three religions. The group then worked together brainstorming ideas for projects to raise the profile of the Charter and compassion in our own communities.
The Charter for Compassion is a short
document reinforcing the importance of the golden rule:
treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. The
Charter calls 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; and to cultivate an informed empathy
with the suffering of all human beings “even those
regarded as enemies."
The Charter is the brainchild of
Dr Karen Armstrong, a former British nun who won the
$100,000 TED Prize in 2008 to grant "one wish to change the
world" with her wish to bring together a group of leading
inspirational thinkers from Judaism, Christianity and Islam
to craft a Charter for Compassion based on the principles of
universal justice and respect. Over 1,000 people
collaborated online to write the Charter, which is now being
launched worldwide through a series of events and religious
services.
The Auckland meeting generated a number of
potential projects, including creating friendships between
people and religious communities through meetings in homes,
bringing our religious youth groups together to work on
civic projects, promoting compassion in our own families,
educating ourselves to dispel our historical ignorance of
others, and using electronic media such as Facebook and web
sites to promote our message.
Dave Moskovitz said that
he'd never seen such energetic positive interaction in an
interfaith event in New Zealand before. "In our own lives,
our religions are a power of good, and our basic religious
teachings tell us to be compassionate, love our neighbours,
be kind to others, and be good citizens. This is common to
all our religions, and provides a wonderful shared kaupapa
or basis from which we can work together to make the world a
better place. And there was plenty of energy and resolve at
this meeting to do just that."
The Rasheed Memorial
Trust was established in the memory of Auckland lawyer and
pioneering interfaith worker Abdul Rahim Rasheed, and aims
to engage peoples of all faith through collaborative
action.
The Rasheed Memorial Trust is a partner to the
Charter, which is appropriate given Abdul's history of
compassion and tolerance to all peoples throughout his life,
says Aarif Rasheed. "I still hear new stories of compassion
rendered by my late father more than 3 years after his death
which inspires the work the Trust now does. And by
connecting good acts to the Charter, we hope this growing
movement of compassionate action will inspire changes in our
world. The Rasheed Trust is honoured to be joined by
organisations such as the NZ Jewish Council and we invite
other faith groups to join a growing coalition of groups
promoting the Charter in NZ. Abrahamic faiths in particular
attract criticism for not doing enough for peace, and we
have a corresponding responsibility to act and inspire
good."
ENDS