Brad Hirschfield

Karen Armstrong's invitation to the world, whatever that means, to write a Charter for Compassion strikes me as well-intentioned silliness at best. At worst it is a more benign form of the same religious arrogance that she decries and that lies at the root of the violence and hatred that religious faith can and does inspire in people of every faith. Perhaps that response lacks compassion for Ms. Armstrong. But the stakes are simply too high to allow ourselves a Kumbayah moment when what we need is something far more sophisticated and powerful. In a world filled with faith-driven hate and violence, simply appealing to something as amorphous as compassion will not do the job.

-- Brad Hirschfield, rabbi, talk show host and president of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership