"Religion is hard work. Above all it demands a compassionate lifestyle. This is the test of religiosity in every single one of the major world traditions. Most of our doctrines were originally calls to action." --Karen Armstrong

Spiritual seekers often engage and wrestle with growth in spiritual practice, faith, prayer, and a theological understanding of God or the Sacred. In an interview with U.S. Catholic magazine, Karen Armstrong (author, thinker, and 2008 TED Prize winner who wished for help in creating, launching and propagating the Charter for Compassion) responds to questions such as:

• How do people understand God in Western culture today? 
• What's wrong with seeing God as fact?
• Science and religion are often cast as opponents today. How has the relationship between them changed?
• What happens to religion when you mix science and faith? 
• Are there other doctrines that could help us recover the sense of religion as practice?
• How is the experience of transcendence connected to compassionate action?
• But isn't the goal of [Christian] faith to get to heaven, "to meet our Maker"? 
• What do you make of those who say they are "spiritual, but not religious"?

Perhaps you too ask questions such as these, or companion seekers who study and seek to live their faith in the context of the world today. What do Armstrong's responses evoke in you? How do you think and talk about God?

Click here to read the entire U.S. Catholic interview with Karen Armstrong.

Click here to learn about the Charter for Compassion.

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