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The connections start here
by Joan Chittister on Mar. 05, 2009
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Printer-friendly versionSend to friendPDF versionOne thing is for sure: I never in my life expected to be in an interfaith meeting like the one that ended in Switzerland Feb. 26. After all, I grew up in a world in which every religious denomination was very, very sure of its uniqueness, its absolute monopoly on truth, its special status, its need to protect itself against heretics and infidels, against indifferentism and syncretism, against the great and wild "others." Whoever they might be. And those lines, one did not cross.
Then World War I and World War II, global business and globalization, the League of Nations and the United Nations, the G-8, the G-7, the G-20, and the European Union began to spring up everywhere. Fences came down everywhere. Borders ceased to exist. The world had, indeed, become a village. China was a day trip. Apartheid and genocide and nuclearization and the loss of the rain forests became local issues.
But not religion. Religion tended to cling to the local turf with all its claims of total truth and total privilege. There were, after all, issues yet unresolved. Slavery and the Holocaust, for instance, with all the theological overtones triggered by each. Or the crusades. Or colonialism with its inclination to convert Jews, Moslems and Native Americans at the end of a sword. Divisions along these lines were bitter and deep, theological and cast in God-talk: a lethal brew.
Nevertheless, the new realities of pluralism were outrunning the long-time dominance of past religious confines. The religious geography of the world was seeping across national boundaries just as surely as had its political and economic counterparts.
Signs of religious bonding began to emerge -- quietly, tentatively -- everywhere. Among others: After a 100 year hiatus, the Parliament of Religion held its second international gathering, and then its third and its fourth and now, soon, its fifth. The World Council of Churches reached out across denominations to organize the Christian world for the sake of the global community. Vatican II, Roman Catholicism's move into the 20th century after 400 years of parochial isolation, published a document on the church's relationship with both Christian and non-Christian religions that would open dialogue among the faiths for years to come. And, in 1986, Pope John Paul II's call for a Day of Prayer in Assisi, Italy, among the leaders of all the great faith traditions on the planet, gave world religion a human face and its praying selves a common bond.
All of those, of course, were "official" -- and therefore cautious -- forays into the ecclesiastical world. Fueled by the communication revolution as surely as the printing press upended religion before it. However, another impulse was afoot.
Several months ago, TED, a program launched in 1984 for the collection and pursuit of new ideas in science, business and the arts, gave its Make A Wish award to Karen Armstrong. (TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design.) Armstrong's wish, after years of religious scholarship and writing, was that TED would help create a universal charter for compassion among all the major religions of the world -- Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. (See Armstrong's TED speech.)
Then technology -- the value of which we judge as either a new creation or the end of the world, depending on the day we judge it -- took over.
TED, originally begun to concentrate on new ideas in technology, education and design, built a Web site that invited people all over the world, in multiple languages, out of every perspective, to contribute ideas for the charter and to evaluate these statements for power, impact and inspirational effect. This may, in fact, be the first example of a universally created document in the history of the world.
And that's where the meeting in Switzerland came in. Having built a Web site that gathered the responses of people from all these traditions from one end of the planet to the other, TED gathered a "Council of Sages," made up of scholars and religious leaders, to review the ideas and mold them into their final form.
Never had I seen a mixed council of people like this work on a single document, together pouring out the ideals dearest to them about the very foundations of their faiths, in one group. They were Islamic scholars, a Hindu and a Christian nun, a Christian bishop and an ordained clergywoman, Jewish rabbis and even a Grand Mufti from Egypt. (See Council of Sages.)
And what happened? At the end of the day, they all discovered that their separate religions had formed them well. Compassion, they agreed, is the universal in each of our faiths, the glue meant to hold the world together.
Compassion, the Council said, is not pity since pity assumes superiority. Compassion is not an idea, it is an action that lifts the burden of the other because the other is of us. It is the determination to end the suffering of the other by spending oneself to do it. Compassion is fundamental to every faith and more urgently needed now more than ever. When whole people can be held hostage to robotized weapons of war and the kinds of "religious commitment" that makes the slaughter of innocents a holy act, compassion is needed.
But the purpose of the Charter is not to publish one more document. It's purpose is to create a movement that not only binds humanity together around the Golden Rule but provides a world-wide antidote to the use of religion in the justification of violence.
The work is nothing less than the attempt to create a common movement among Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus to delegitimize the use of religion as a technique of either state or personal violence. There will be public launch sites named, plaques raised, posters printed, the signatures of 1,000 major religious leaders gathered, and people everywhere engaged to be part of one great cry for Compassion.
As TED puts it on the Charter's website:
The Charter will change the tenor of the conversation around religion. It will be a clarion call to the world.
The Charter will show that the voice of negativity and violence so often associated with religion is the minority and that the voice of compassion is the majority.
From where I stand, it's clear that religious people everywhere are trying to do what their own official leadership has failed to do in both church and state because what we've been doing, even as religions, is not working anymore.
If I were you, I'd follow this movement closely. Get a copy of the charter; distribute it; mount and display the plaque, spread the Web site; change the world. The change has to start somewhere, and it's obviously not going to start at the top. That leaves us.
Thank you so much! From my
Thank you so much!
From my own experience, I have believed for many years that grassroots is where it's at, and that at the grassroots level most true believers know that we are all more alike than otherwise. People "at the bottom" find it difficult to understand why those at or near the top keep insisting on stressing what keeps us separated.
I'm going to learn as much as I can about TED, and keep a close on on developments. Who knows? I may even participate!
Facebook this Charter somehow
Facebook this Charter somehow and it will spread like wildfire...or tongues of fire.
This is so needed. For
This is so needed. For centuries the world has been under attack by people whose religious ideologies said "Error has no rights," and each claimed the right to determine who was in error--generally everyone but themselves. Currently this threat comes from Islamic jihadists, with a movement in the U.N. to make criticism of Islam illegal, while proponents loudly damn and threaten people of any other or of no religion. God willing, this spirit of conpassion and mutual respect will extend from the Islamic scholars who participated in and/or support the ideals of this conference to the jihadist clerics and their followers.2A
I was energized after reading
I was energized after reading the article and knowing that what came from the meeting was "Compassion" which was the common denominator, the universal action, "the glue meant to hold the world together." For quite a few years I have been listening daily to a Holosync Gamma Compassion CD while doing the Buddhist Compassion Meditation and the daily process has changed my life in how I live and act with all humankind.
Sr. Joan's experience is just another story/action that is taking place around the globe which is building a critical mass of people in bringing about that beautiful order of things which the Son of God came to establish. So it is and so it will be.
I was energized after reading
I was energized after reading the article and knowing that what came from the meeting was "Compassion" which was the common denominator, the universal action, "the glue meant to hold the world together." For quite a few years I have been listening daily to a Holosync Gamma Compassion CD while doing the Buddhist Compassion Meditation and the daily process has changed my life in how I live and act with all humankind.
Sr. Joan's experience is just another story/action that is taking place around the globe which is building a critical mass of people in bringing about that beautiful order of things which the Son of God came to establish. So it is and so it will be.
I am never disappointed with
I am never disappointed with the insights and wisdom from Sr. Joan. As a Catholic who is often ashamed of the messages that come from the official leadership of my Church (and I claim the Church as mine- though imperfect and flawed) Sr. Joan brings a balance and a global, inclusive perspective that resonates with my own experience.
I, too, have practice Buddhist Tonglen meditation and it has changed my life and my relationship with those that prior to this practice I saw as other. This current initiative is Spirit renewing the face of the earth. Deo gratias.
No doubt there will be some
No doubt there will be some to jump on this response and label you with a variety of derogatory rhetoric. Whatever.
I find a subtle irony that a spiritual practice that so many "christians" label as pagan, heathen and demonic, teaches and practices the principles of Christ, the principles of love and compassion more fully than any Christian religion ever has. The catholic church and christianity could learn a great deal from Buddhism.
Dear DGF, Do I understand you
Dear DGF, Do I understand you correctly?? You say that Jesus Christ could learn a lot from Buddha?? Jesus Christ did establish the Catholic Church on earth. We Catholics as Christians imitate Jesus Christ in our dealings with all people and as such need not study Buddha to act in concert with Jesus Christ!!
Tom, Perhaps you did not read
Tom,
Perhaps you did not read DGF's post thoughtfully or if you did then you have deliberately misquoted her/him for whatever reason. What DGF did say was that the Catholic Church could learn a lot from Buddhism. To equate the RCC (given its history down the ages) with Jesus(which as I read your post is your contention) is drawing a long bow don't you think?
Secondly, Jesus did not establish the RCC as you have written. Jesus remained a practising Jew to his death on the cross. The RCC was establisheded by Paul and being a Jew as well borrowed much from Judaism its beliefs, practices(although with variations) and perspectives. As Christianity evolved its original underpinings changed from Eastern to Western under the influence of Greek and Roman philosophical insights.
Dear El, It is difficult to
Dear El, It is difficult to understand any post that distorts Scripture as both you and DGF have done! Jesus Christ did establish the Catholic Church on earth in spite of what you say and or believe. It is not my intent to be argumenative however if you will approach scholars in Scripture I am sure they can point out the passages in which JESUS CHRIST established HIS Church on earth!!
So, by taking #6 from Column
So, by taking #6 from Column A and #3 from Column B and #13 from Column C you’ve created Kim’s Cult.
Are you telling us this to tout your great achievement? Sorry to have to inform you, but anyone can create a new religion. Any old nincompoop can do what you’ve done!
Or are you telling us this to round up some cult followers? Then congratulations! It looks like DGF is on board.
This is the Good News!
This is the Good News! Alleluia & Amen! There is no doubt the Spirit is a-moving!
You wrote: "it's obviously
You wrote: "it's obviously not going to start at the top. That leaves us."
Wrong, wrong, wrong! From an American point of view (and some others), that doesn't "leave us" that IS US. "We, the people" are the top. Of course, therefor, it will start with, and come from, US. Our Lord, Himself, illustrates this. He was no pharisee or member of a ruling class, and he did not select such to be His apostles. It's about time we returned to His model.
Sister Joan is one of my
Sister Joan is one of my favorite writers for the National Catholic Reporter. She is in a class with Father John Dear and Bishop Thomas Gumbleton. Religions of the world need to seek a common ground. All religions must seek compassion for the world population.
Islam wants to convert everyone to its beliefs. All that I seek is to convert the human heart toward love, mercy, justice, and peace.
You make a good point.
You make a good point.
Islam believes itself to be the one true religion,
--- everyone else is unclean.
The RCC believes itself to be the one true religion,
--- everyone else is heretic or protestant or both.
Many fundamentalists believe themselves to be the one true religion,
--- everyone else is the antichrist or his minions.
Each one believes it is their mission to go out and convert (using force if necessary) others to their version of salvation. Each one believes theirs is the one way, the only way. Each one can support their position with a variety of "proof". Each one only has room for the own paradigms.
Yet, if we strip away the isolationist attitudes, each has far more in common than they do that seperates them. More than enough for interfaith cooperation and compassion. More than enough for harmony.
Very good news. Watching men
Very good news. Watching men shoot, bomb, stab, rape ad nauseam on a daily basis for the sake of some national honor or goal is sickening. It is so fear inducing and repeats itself so often and men have done it since they walked upright.
Thank you Sister Joan for
Thank you Sister Joan for some inspiring thoughts about interfaith compassion.
I am convinced that it is only through deep spiritual convictions and a desire to lift the whole world from desperation to universal hope for mankind that God's people everywhere can find the good that lies in all of us. Thus far the Institutions have failed to do this. People of all religious faiths,
or none at all must emerge from doctrinaire ideologies and lead the way to an
understanding, acceptance and pursuit of our mutual desiny. "Love God,( Yaweh, etc.) with all your being and your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."
On March 8 I'm giving a talk
On March 8 I'm giving a talk on the common ground between enlightened Christians and enlightened atheists--another bit of evidence demonstrating this. I attend Mass regularly but don't believe Jesus is God or that his death saved the world. My beliefs resemble those of atheists who don't vilify religion and who accept spiritual reality.
Strange... Do you claim to be
Strange...
Do you claim to be Catholic? Do you receive the Eucharist at Mass?
Dear Writer: I do not presume
Dear Writer: I do not presume to answer for Sister Joan, a gallant lady who needs no one to answer for her. I answer as a fellow Roman Catholic who entered the Church in 1943 at the age of 14 and later through scholarships and membership had the good fortune to be educated by the Jesuits. I answer as one who tried earnestly out of a sense of loyalty but with scant conviction to defend the papal position against contraception. I was deeply touched by the all too brief presence of "Papa Giovanni" for whose intercession I now pray daily. And I answer as one who came to the sad conclusion that change in our Church can only come from the grass roots because hierarchy has too strong a vested interest in separation and uniformity. In these my final years I take great comfort from the writings of Bonhoeffer and from a Franciscan prophet now of New Mexico who see our journey as probably one of hanging on the cross with Jesus and absorbing all the uncertainty and ambiguity of our times and, by the grace of God alone, clinging to hope and trust in the Father who made and sustains us all. That trust sees the Presence of the Creator in all mankind from the beginning. It is a Presence that continues to foster patience and COMPASSION and yes even forgiveness toward those of our fellow human beings who embrace death and violence. Yes, we claim to be Catholic and receive Eucharist at Mass. I hope you do too. Jim Davis
I don't think you meant to
I don't think you meant to respond to my particular post, did you?
I was asking the person in the above post, who claimed to NOT believe that Jesus is God, if they received the Eucharist and considered themselves Catholic.
I asked because accepting the Divinity of Chirst is mandatory. If we reject His divinity, what is left but to reject everything else?
Thank you for this
Thank you for this information. It is thrilling!
I feel the hope and possibility transmitted in your writing.
This document is a missing piece of the paradox-how we can be different and the same together.
We are fortunate that you were there are your consciousness will be present in that document.
This,indeed, is history!
This article and it's news is
This article and it's news is the first breadth of hopeful religious fresh air I've experienced for awhile. As someone who has a leadership role in the Church, I experience first-hand the lack of compassion that brings with it so much hopelessness and anger and left and right camps. We so need commom ground that will restore us as a compassionate family of God. Thank you to all who work so hart and will do my part in sharing the news herein.
While I respect Joan
While I respect Joan Chittister for her optimism,
until Chrsitians preach less, and practise more of what they preach, and even shed their "moral superiority"(especially those Bishops, who were "sleeping at the wheel", while their "celibate" pastors seduced, raped and silenced the young children, even as they preached the "Word of God"),
I can only recall:
"Gandhi when asked by a close friend, "If you admire Christ so much, why don't you become a Christian?" Gandhi reportedly replied, "When I meet a Christian who is a follower of Christ, I may consider it."
Following Christ, by Joseph M. Stowell, Zondervan (February 1, 1998),ISBN-10: 0310219345; ISBN-13: 978-0310219347
God bless,
M.Francis
Reading Sr. Joan is like
Reading Sr. Joan is like inhaling fresh air....also recommend all to read "The Faith Club" - it will help you step out of your cage and into a new relationship and acceptance with all faiths.
Sister Joan has hit the
Sister Joan has hit the target so many people have not even identified. How can we live together in harmony. Many years age Jean Pierre deCaussade wrote that "faith is the mother of gentleness, confidence and joy". Here we know the true meaning of faith. Working together to share gentleness, confidence and joy to nurture and care for each other in this lived experience of ours. Thank you Joan for reminding us of our commom amd mutual 'vocation'.
It's about time! To bring
It's about time! To bring about the ideals that even Gandhi, Dalai Lamas and Merton believed in is amazing. We need this more than anything. Thank you!
Yes, another voice affirming
Yes, another voice affirming our one humanness. We are one human family. And God said, "I set before you life and death, choose Life."
Those hearing His Voice are multiplying. For just as she reports, others are voicing the same. Interfaith for Justice, many religions and organizations together presenting on the 1st Monday of the month a conference call, inviting us to address the stranger/immigrant among us and what are we do to help our neighbor, and in so doing, we help ourselves.
NCR's article on Tony Blair, (3/6/09) mentioning Hans Kung's belief that when the religions of the world support peace among each other, then there will be peace among nations. Amen
I found this to be an
I found this to be an informative, interesting article with a lot of good ideas and intentions. I strongly believe religion should not be used for an excuse for violence or for any divisive intent. Through our faiths, we should be making the world a much better place.
Once individuals discover for themselves that they have a responsibility and accountability to make the world a better place, the world actually starts to become a better place. I believe this is what's missing in every religion, in every movement, in every cause - the message has to be ‘received’ by each individual and then put it into action by them. You stated, "From where I stand, it's clear that religious people everywhere are trying to do what their own official leadership has failed to do in both church and state because what we've been doing, even as religions, is not working anymore." However, in every major religion they have their version of the Golden Rule - Do unto others ...." The religious leaders have for centuries done their part to teach, to send the message and to role model to their congregations. From where I stand, the members (we) have not done our part to implement and live the values and principles of our own beliefs. Another document or movement will not change this. As a matter of fact, another document or movement is exactly what we do not need. It will only delay us from getting to the root cause of the issue which is - people do not treat people well based on religion, race, color, sex, etc. or any other excuse we can find. It's a simple solution - practice what we preach and supposedly believe. We need individuals to put their faith into action on a daily basis. When will the message be received and acted upon? Like the adage says, "We need a lot less talk and a lot more action." It did start at the top but as people we need to really “hear”, internalize, personalize and live the message daily.
I find it intriguing that the members of the “council” were once again, scholars, rabbis, bishop, clergy, nuns – what about laypeople? Not much changed there.
If all the existing religions, movements and causes were doing their part and being effective, the world should be bustling with peace, happiness, love and being able to get along. Can you imagine the impact on the world, if every one of us did one more peaceful thing today than we did yesterday? It's our fault for not living up to our own responsibility and accountability. When you say "it's not working anymore", from where I stand, that should read "we are not working anymore". It's time to stop blaming others.
Peace.
Thanks for your thougths as
Thanks for your thougths as well JPalko. Both you and Joan Chittister mention the Golden Rule. There is some fantastic information on the Golden Rule from 13 major religions. Workshop material and posters in 6 different languages is available from Scarboro Missions -- http://www.scarboromissions.ca/Golden_rule/sacred_texts.php
Peace.
Sr. Joan's subject-matter
Sr. Joan's subject-matter reminds me of an upcoming conference entitled "The Emerging Church" with Richard Rohr, OFM, Brian McClaren, Phyllis Tickle and others, March 20-22, 2009 in Alburquerque, New Mexico.
For more info visit: www.cacradicalgrace.org
Peace,
Jose
Dear Sr. Joan, It seems that
Dear Sr. Joan, It seems that every so often another group is formed to side track what each of us is taught about GOD! Sure fighting will continue if we do not put into practise on our own what GOD taught us. We do not study our GOD enough to really know HIM. We are too busy trying to impress others with our knowledge in place of knowing all we can about GOD! How often do we lay persons just sit and ask GOD to speak to us-clear our selves to accept HIS teaching? When was the last time we spent an hour to listen to HIM, really listen to HIM?? Contemplation is not just for the religious and certainly if practised often in our individual lifes will offer a peacefulness not often experienced! Carry on conversations with GOD and listen when HE is speaking! HE never lets us down and HE will teach you how to act in each circumstance of your life. All we need is GOD!!
Dear Tom, There will never be
Dear Tom,
There will never be a time when you will know all that there is to know about God. You keep calling God "Him", but God is Androgynous---possessing both male and female qualities. And that is where we all need to get off of our behinds and realize that the theory that you are espousing is good. But more is needed---ACTION. On this earth, God's Will must be done---not just contemplated---but DONE.
God has only our hands, our feet, our wills and our desire to bring about the changes that we can only HOPE will happen if all we do is contemplate. Yes, do contemplate. Do listen to God---but also carry out the Will of God.
And this group---far from side tracking anyone---is giving an opportunity of bringing about greater understanding---and a greater opportunity of bringing about Jesus' wish---"That all may be one."
It has seemed for a long time
It has seemed for a long time that political leaders are unable to change the model of governance and the tools of governing which today include bombs, bombs and more bombs. When President Eisenhower left office, his farewell speech warned the American people to beware of a growing military industrial Congressional complex, with unwarranted influence and power, that prevails today in wars around the world and has allowed itself to be become the very foundation of our global economic system. The only thing that can turn this behemoth of a worldwide economy that feeds on war is the Spirit. And clearly the Spirit was working in Switzerland. The spiritual leaders of all nations are the ones who together can make right the perspective of the world. To put the accent back on the right syllable of service and compassion. The Charter is a great first step and the leaders in Switzerland have my gratitude for their work!
While at TED, a wonderful
While at TED, a wonderful website by the way, take a look at the presentation by Dr Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain scientist who suffered a massive stroke. As a stroke survivor, I have found this presentation very spiritual!
I'm trying to wrap my mind
I'm trying to wrap my mind around the idea that it took a Council of Sages to determine that it is compassion that is needed. While I applaud them for their work and don't mean to disrespect them in any way, the need for compassion is what I hear in my life all the time.
I am a member of a demographic that is traditionally not welcomed by most major faith traditions. I'm a gay girl. But I am also a cradle Anglican, working for the church, and active in music ministry. Some Anglicans heartily welcome gay folk. Some Anglicans demonize gay folk.
Within the gay community, my identity as a Christian is often challenged. Why would I want to be a member of a group that treats gay folk so badly, with a complete lack of compassion for the challenges that gay folk face in society and in the church.
Right now, there is a group of leaders from the American religious right preaching their gospel of hate at a seminar in Uganda. The result of that seminar will be an increase in violence against Ugandan GLBTs. How is this Christian? How is this compassionate? Clearly, they haven't heard about the Charter and even if they did, would they disregard it as yet one more assault on "family values"?
So, however this Charter came about, it is a good thing. It won't be an immediate relief to those suffering religious persecution. It won't get through to those who use religion has an instument of power and control but it may disrupt their power bases enough to make a difference.
Dear Amelia, As humans, if we
Dear Amelia, As humans, if we do not understand a certain culture, we tend to ridicule it to hide how we truly feel. So many of us have been ridiculed for what we believe or practise and it goes on.
Our response should be "Love one another" because we have been commanded to do so! Sure it takes courage! But is it better to respond in the same manner? If one does not live a certain lifestyle and does not intend to, that person will probably not try to learn more about that lifestyle and because others ridicule people of that persuasion it is easier to go along with the masses. As Christians we should not do so and it is not my intention to defend this position however human nature being what it is many of us take what we believe to be the "easy way out".
May God Bless you and those who love you! You will be in my prayers.
Dear Sister, Where is the
Dear Sister,
Where is the compassion in this story?
A senior Vatican cleric has defended the excommunication of the mother and doctors of a nine-year-old girl who had an abortion in Brazil after being raped.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/5375029/vatican-defends-brazil-excomm...
The rapist was not excommunicated. The child's life was threatened. This is pure insanity on the part of the Catholic Church. Misogynistic insanity.
This is religious relativism
This is religious relativism at its worst. Jesus Christ is the only Savior of the world. He is our only Lord. Only Jesus suffered and died on the Cross and rose from the dead in order to save us from our sins. No other person in history accomplished what Jesus did in His Cross and Resurrection. Jesus Christ and his sacrificial offering for us in obedience to His Father is the only universal constant of any human faith. Respect for other religions can not deny this truth! Read Dominus Iesus by Cardinal Ratzinger.
If God, as I wholeheartedly
If God, as I wholeheartedly believe and live, is a God of love and compassion, then for God to demand that anyone beloved by God be murdered so that others could be "saved" makes no sense at all.
Compassion. How beautiful.
Compassion. How beautiful. Why don't we all live together in one commune and sing Kumbayah. Yes we can dance around a peace pole and hold candlelight vigils for compassion. This is so silly it is unbelievable!
Dear Joan: Grass roots
Dear Joan:
Grass roots organization are great. But grass root organizations that meet in distant venues seem to devolve into a group of international complainers.
Instead of just doing it, living it, you meet to selectively condemn others.
"with all the theological overtones triggered by each. Or the crusades."
Where is the mention of the Muslim invasion of North Africa and Europe?
Is that off the table?
Plese remove the plank from your eye before you condemn others who do not choose your dissident path!
I pray for you and all those who hider Christ's Church on this earth.
Dear Kat Do you realy believe
Dear Kat
Do you realy believe that its okay for a crime victim to murder an innocent person?
Dear Sister, Step by step you
Dear Sister,
Step by step you lead into this togetherness. I can imagine how poignant the Swiss experience must have been. The image of the 11:30 am Mass on Sundays at St Gervaise in Paris, with the Jerusalem Community comes to my mind. A sense of flow towards each other and the Lord that encompasses every breath, each mutual salutation. The globality of it all, present. Thank you for your lead, your light. And for bringing TED into it all.
NL
Santiago, Chile
Somehow lost in all this
Somehow lost in all this mumbo-jumbo of one world religiosity is the command that Christ gave His apostles: go throughout the world and make disciples of all nations. No where in Scripture does He say to get chummy with the pagans. While it's commendable to focus on the things that unite us, if that's all there is, then Christ's command is being ignored.
IMHO, this type of interfaith action serves to insult the martyrs of the Church, who travelled into hostile territories and died for the faith and for love of Christ. I'd much rather be seen as an enemy of the world and a friend of God, than a friend of the world and thus an enemy of God. Those are the only two alternatives. You can't be a member of the Church of TED and also a member of the Catholic Church.
We are called to be charitable - as St Paul wrote, the greatest of these is love - and only love remains - and being charitable means expressing the Truth. It saddens me to read how so many on this message board have forsaken Christ and His Church in order to "just get along".
Disciples to what?? Jesus
Disciples to what?? Jesus was putting out a message of love and service. He told his followers to serve others and to help them see that God is loving towards them whether they belong to the right group or the wrong group, whether they were jewish or not, male or female. He NEVER said to belong to the Christian church. He never said to belong to the jewish faith. He healed roman and jew alike. His message was to love one another no matter what. No matter what!! So yes, let's all become disciples (followers) of Christ's way but remember he said it was not an easy way as it meant to live your life for others, even those you don't like or agree with.
Seeing as how he instructed
Seeing as how he instructed them to baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, it's pretty obvious to me (and to the Church) that Christ intended them to become His followers and part of the church He established. There is only one Savior, and that is Christ.
Dear lgd0708, Beautifully
Dear lgd0708, Beautifully stated! During this Lenten Season we should be focusing on the Savior of Us All, Jesus Christ. Beginning in the Garden with all the suffering HE foresaw through HIS death on the Cross Jesus is calling to us to dispense with our activities that hurt HIM so much and focus on HIM and seek HIS Forgiveness.Now is not the time to call other issues into play but rather we should attempt to put all things in perspective and honor HIS preparation for and the sacrifice HE made in offering HIS LIFE to GOD HIS and OUR FATHER! May GOD love us.
Can you imagine my surprise
Can you imagine my surprise when I searched Council of Sages online and found myself at www.sages.org, a website for gastrointestinal and endoscopic surgeons? It did get me to wondering, however, whether Google was alerting me to something the Charter for Compassion worthies might not have grasped.
You mean that we may finally
You mean that we may finally realize that traditional religious fundamentalism, the "my way is the only way and everyone else is a heathen heretic" mentality and rhetoric are the major source of ulcers, hemaroids and diahhrea in the christian world?
You might be on to something there.
It's more that the Compassion
It's more that the Compassion worthies in Switzerland and the surgeon SAGES in the USA explore the same oriface, the one using theological tools and the other scientific.
In 2008, Sister, you wrote up
In 2008, Sister, you wrote up your trips to Dublin, Ireland (February), Jaipur, India (March), Hawaii (April), and Aspen, Colorado (November). Now, in 2009, you've just written up your trip to Geneva, Switzerland (February), this one for holding a discussion of compassion with friends, the while over 5 million people in the USA have lost their jobs. Have you considered scaling back your travels as a demonstration of solidarity with your suffering fellow citizens?
Enthusiasm for religious tourism doesn't play very well in this time of hardship. It may even strike some as peculiar in a nun living under vows of poverty and stability who's made social justice her mission in life.
If one skips the
If one skips the intermediate-level of spiritual sages and religious writers and their mass-market "how to" manuals and goes directly to the MYSTICAL traditions of all world religions, the language of truly enlightened individuals regardless of denomination is amazingly similar. And luckily for us, they wisely choose to write very little.
What Hugh Fitzgerald wrote of
What Hugh Fitzgerald wrote of Karen Armstrong applies to the Revisionist Catholic Fundamentalism voiced over and over again on this website:
“For Karen Armstrong history does not exist. It is putty in the hands of the person who writes about history. You use it to make a point, to do good as you see it. And whatever you need to twist or omit is justified by the purity of your intentions – and Karen Armstrong always has the purest intentions. Karen Armstrong is not innocent, and manages to do a great deal of harm, careless or premeditated harm, to history.”
Don't you know? In the age of
Don't you know? In the age of Liberalism, the trick is acting like you have compassion for all people publicly (except Catholics who are always fair game) while the bank account swells. Guess the sister must have messed up a little this time with the 'Oh, by the way, Switzerland loves me too' thing. Not to worry, nothing a good Vatican-bashing article can't handle to get the trusty followers back in line.
Sr. Joan, Just want to thank
Sr. Joan,
Just want to thank you for carrying forward Pope John XXIII purpose and goal in proclaiming the oneness of God's people. The expression I like that I find Black people often saying is "my people." We are all God's People!
I pray that God, Our Father, will continue to gift you with wisdom, knowledge, understanding, wise counsel, and you ever sensitive caring and loving heart.
Jack
Sister Joan, I can not see
Sister Joan, I can not see how you can be considered to be a person who builds compassion and love when you persistently denigrate the Church and her bishops. This builds disrespect for our brothers - who have given their lives to serve us. Your comments just make their jobs more difficult because it breeds disrespect and perpetuates anti-Catholic hatred. Throughout history, beginning with Europe, it has been the Church who has been the first to bring education, hospitals and compassion to poor peoples around the globe - you mislead when you suggest that the faith was spread at end of a sword. For the most part, you are confusing the actions of secular governments with the Church which has a long history of fighting against abusive governments and continues to do so often at risk to the lives of our bishops, priests and missionaries in the process.(presently this occurs in India, S. America, China and Africa) According to scholars such as Owen Chadwick, an Anglican, it was Catholic missionaries and popes who were leaders in the efforts to end slavery. It was a Catholic pope, Paul III, who first officially condemned slavery of the indigenous people of colonial America in the papal bull Sublimis Deus. This was the beginning of the end of slavery, an institution which existed all over the world except in Christian Europe, a Europe that became Christian through the efforts of the Church. In my own Archdiocese of Miami, it is the Church, not secular governments or charities, that is the largest non-governmental provider of social services. What evil deed has my Church and bishop done to deserve your persistent labeling of "elitist", "uncaring", "unresponsive", "old fashioned"? It is the Archdiocese and our bishop who leads others into ecumenical discussions with the Muslim community and others. He inspires us to acts of Charity doing exactly what Jesus told the Apostles to do. The same thing that most bishops throughout history have also done. I think you dwell so much on the small percentage of bishops and priests that fall into the Judas' category that you completely miss the good and fruitful work accomplished by those that fall into the category of the other 11.
Dear Nancy Heise, Thank you
Dear Nancy Heise, Thank you for your strong defense of our Church Hiearchy. So many out there do not understand the harm caused by the villification of members of the clergy in the Church they call their own. All of us are sinners and some greater than others. Perhaps separating the two is too much of a job so we lump all together!! And of course we have the big one to consider: Why do we not have women priests and until we do no man in the Catholic Church is not worthy even of being looked upon as anything other than a scummy pedophile!! What a change from when I was taught such great respect for all of God's people at my Mother's knee. How missed this type of Love is today!! Again thank you for your thoughtful and loving comments. May God Love you and yours is my prayer!!
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