大象传媒

This feature public event of the 2012 Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue included a lecture titled 鈥淲hat is Religion?鈥�, the inaugural 鈥淪tate of the Charter for Compassion鈥� global address and the public launch of the Greater Vancouver Compassion Network.

More than 730 audience members attended the event, along with an estimated virtual audience of 2,000. This included members of the 63 local book clubs that formed to read Karen Armstrong鈥檚 12 Steps to a Compassionate Life in anticipation of the lecture.

The evening began with the public launch of the Greater Vancouver Compassion Network, part of an international movement to build compassionate communities, inspired in part by Armstrong鈥檚 Charter for Compassion. This speech by GVCN Chair Alisdair Smith is available . 

In her feature lecture, What is Religion?, Karen Armstrong asked the audience to consider the fundamental nature of religion and how the common value of compassion unites almost all major world belief systems.

Armstrong鈥檚 inaugural State of the Charter for Compassion Global Address ended the evening by including stories from Pakistan, Jordan, Kentucky and Vancouver, as well as a global call to action with 鈥淎ssignment Compassion.鈥� The address also unveiled the redesigned  鈥� the new hub for this growing movement of more than 80,000 members.

In partnership with , and Greater Vancouver Compassion Network.