Rev. Nate Walker’s PodCasts

Interfaith clergy and community leaders in the Philadelphia region gathered on November 12, 2009 at Love Park to publicly affirm the Charter for Compassion:

"The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.

"It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others - even our enemies - is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.

"We therefore call 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 ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings, even those regarded as enemies.

"We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensible to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community."

Visit www.CharterForCompassion.org for more details

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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA – On November 1, 2009 Reverend Nathan C. Walker delivered an open letter to Mr. Hugh Grant, the Chief Executive Officer of Monsanto, asking for a public response to seven moral questions. Monsanto is one of the largest producers of glyphosate herbicides and because of numerous broken relationships has become a controversial enterprise. Walker addresses these controversies by calling interfaith leaders to hold a public forum for Monsanto to publicly answer seven questions, three of which are as follows: (1) How can Monsanto develop a new research model based on open-source biotechnology and invent the wikiseed, where the DNA of the seed would be open to peer-based collaboration and public research? (2) How will Monsanto honor, respect and protect seed sovereignty, defined as the right of people and self-governed states to democratically determine their own seed policies? (3) When are you available to meet with interfaith clergy and bioethicists to craft a twenty-first-century Hippocratic Oath for biotechnology to be signed by all Monsanto’s employees who agree to do no harm? Walker poses these questions because he believes “Monsanto needs a moral leader, not simply for the sake of the company but for the world community.” Contact Reverend Walker at revnate[at]philauu.org or at (215) 701-9072.

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Rev. Nate Walker, First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia Association Sunday, November 8th at 11:00 am

The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregation has launched a national campaign entitled Standing on the Side of Love. The purpose is three fold. First, every major religion has compassion and love at its center. Staying true to our religious values means standing on the side of love. Second, too much of our public discourse is driven not by love, but by fear, which often scapegoats particular people and deems them somehow less than human. This is a violation of all faiths, which are centered in love. Third, this campaign seeks to harness the power of love to stop oppression, exclusion, and violence. Sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Association, it is an invitation to all people to stand on the side of love.

The Charter for Compassion is the result of Karen Armstrong’s 2008 TED Prize wish for religions to publicly affirm the Golden Rule: a global ethic to teach that we should refuse, under any circumstance, to carry out actions which would cause another harm. As people of faith, we unite with Karen Armstrong, Desmond Tutu and other international dignitaries to publicly affirm the Golden Rule. This global ethic, affirmed in all of the major world religions, requires that we use empathy – the moral imagination – to put ourselves in others' shoes. We should act toward others as we would want them to act toward us. The following passages represent but a few of the many world religions whose sacred text affirms the Golden Rule.

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