Karen Armstrong Quotes
The more aggressive our ideologies become, the more aggressive our discourse whether it's in the United States, from Washington D.C., or whether it's from Tehran, or from some underground Al-Qaeda cell. The more aggressive that discourse is, the more people of moderate persuasion have to organize and speak a voice of compassion. That means to feel with the other.
Armstrong, Karen. "My Wish: The Charter for Compassion." TED, Feb. 2008.
Many critics of the King observed that Saudi Arabia is one of the most intolerant nations in the world where it is a crime for a woman to drive or to import a Christian or Jewish Bible. The country has produced a much higher percentage of fanatical terrorists than its population in the Arab World. Osama bin Laden grew up as a citizen of Saudi Arabia. Saudi money supports Wahabbi—one of the most intolerant wings of Islam—by which Saudi Arabian trained and funded clerics preach extremism and hatred the world over. For example, see {620142} for an example of Saudi Arabian intolerance preached at one of Islam’s most important mosques just weeks after the king is quoted talking about tolerance. It is not as if there is freedom of speech in Saudi Arabia and the king may not censor any intolerant speech. People are jailed and tortured for simply criticizing the government or royal family, executed for criticizing Islam.
Karen Armstrong OBE FRSL is a British author and commentator of Irish Catholic descent known for her books on comparative religion. A former Roman Catholic religious sister, she went from a conservative to a more liberal and mystical Christian faith. She attended St Anne's College, Oxford, while in the convent and majored in English. She left the convent in 1969. Her work focuses on commonalities of the major religions, such as the importance of compassion and the Golden Rule.
