When Louisville, Ky., Mayor Greg Fischer took office in 2011, he stated his three top goals for the city: health, education and compassion. Promises to improve health and education might be standard fare for inaugural addresses – but compassion?
THE MAYOR AND THE MONK
That day, the mayor cited inspiration from a longtime Louisville resident, Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk and scholar who had lived much of his life in an abbey nearby.
“Just two blocks from here,” Mayor Fischer said, “at 4th Street and Muhammad Ali, the Trappist monk and scholar Thomas Merton had a famous epiphany, a sudden moment of insight, as he stood amidst the hustle and bustle of what was then our city’s main shopping district…[Merton] was gripped by an overpowering realization that all those bustling people were not strangers. All human beings were connected. ‘They were mine and I was theirs’ are the words he wrote in his diary on that 1958 day.”
“We are already one,” Merton famously said, “but we imagine that we are not. What we have to recover is our original unity.”
Read More:
http://charterforcompassion.org/take-action/content/17
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 indispensable to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.
See Also:
http://www.louisvilleky.gov/CompassionateCity/
https://www.facebook.com/Compassionate.Louisville
Indian River Guardian 
Vicky Gould – That was very interesting. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer seems to be an enlightened man. I have compassion for Mayor Fletcher and Vice-Mayor Tracy Carroll because I think they’ve done other good things. One act shouldn’t negate a person’s good qualities or acts. However, we need to send the message that we desire from our leaders more tolerance, compassion, respect and appreciation for all people. As well, we should expect it of ourselves.