Tulsa, world to honor religious compassion

By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer - 11/7/2009


Interfaith services around the world next week will celebrate one of the oldest and most universal religious principles: the golden rule, which states "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Boston Avenue United Methodist Church downtown will host Tulsa's version of the worldwide celebration with a service at 3 p.m. Nov. 15.

At the center of the celebrations is a document, the Charter for Compassion, that will be unveiled Thursday.

The charter is a one-page statement emphasizing the golden rule as common ground for religions of the world to get along.

Vicky Langston of the Faith Club Committee, which is sponsoring the Tulsa event along with the Tulsa City-County Library and the Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice, said the charter was developed over a one-year period by author Karen Armstrong.

Armstrong is best known as an author of interfaith books such as "A History of God," "Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet," "The Battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam," "The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions," and "The Case for God."

Last year, Armstrong won the TED award, one of three people to win $100,000 to fulfill one "wish to change the world."

Her wish was to create the Charter for Compassion, which brings together voices from all cultures and religions, reminding the world that mankind shares the core principles of compassion.

As part of next Sunday's service, Langston will read the one-page charter.

A short video of Armstrong explaining the document will be played.

Eight children representing different faiths and cultures will each recite their tradition's equivalence of the golden rule, some dressed in their own cultural attire.

An interfaith musical group, YAVE, will perform.

Boxes will be distributed for people to take back to their own houses of worship to collect gloves for the needy.

As a follow-up, students will create artwork and essays on the subject that will be displayed at OCCJ's Trialogue lecture series next year.



Bill Sherman 581-8398
bill.sherman@tulsaworld.com


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Tulsa World Reader Comments
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Basil, Tulsa (11/12/2009 7:00:29 AM)
The more people begin to see taking care of the poor and needy as a government function, the less they seem prepared to make personal sacrfices to help others. "Just tax us and take care of it."

007, Tulsa (11/7/2009 6:09:56 PM)
I don't believe in all this cume bah yah crap, but if we all have to live together, we might as well get along......

scooter2, (11/7/2009 7:24:03 AM)
Boy, Do we need a revival of Compassion. Especially in the church. It is a sad thing when it's become a lost character. People are so good at throwing stones anymore and most of them are living in glass houses.

scooter2, (11/7/2009 7:26:22 AM)
A pastor once said to me, The church has the only army that kills its wounded.



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