Karen Armstrong, the author of "Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life" spoke on NPR yesterday. As a religious historian she has concrete and specific evidence that preceding the birth of religious fundamentalism, across religions, is a threat to the survival of a community. Hence her conclusion that fundamentalism, exemplified by rigid doctrine and rigid community boundaries, is fear based. And the fuel for fear is hate, hating the other, the unfamiliar, the unknown, as a way to keep it away.
My practice for you today, my challenge really, is to move toward compassion by removing the word "HATE" from your speaking. We build great things by beginning with simple steps. So, simply remove this word as you diminish your capacity to hate on the way to building your capacity for compassion.
Accept the challenge? I double dog dare you! Oh yeah, and read Karen Armstrong's book.
Love,
Darlene
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment