Some traditions are a burden that can break our backs. Racism is one of them. The sooner we get rid of it, the better we will feel as a community and there may still be some hope to save the world from those who use power, religion and money to breed fear, ignorance and hate.

Karen Armstrong, the 2008 TED prize winner, world renowned author and scholar of world religions and creator of the Charter for Compassion just this month sent out a call to bring the world together. And, I would like to extend that call to our little community of Waterloo Region, a community where some folks recently set aside compassion and fell into the age old trap of victimizing the “other”.

Since the City of Waterloo had the honour of being named the world’s most intelligent community, is there any possibility it could also become the most compassionate community? Could all of us shed our prejudices and biases and begin to see the humanity in each and every one of us, regardless of colour, race, gender, socio-economic status or faith?

Is it possible we could see each other as fellow human beings that have the blessing of living in a beautiful country that belongs to all, not just those who got here first and took it away from the natives? Is it possible that we could see the pain of a refugee coming from a concentration camp from another part of the world, or a native homeless person in Waterloo Region, and feel the same kind of compassion for both, and offer help without any preconditions or ulterior motives? Is it possible for us to allow everyone to hold their beliefs and observe their traditions without forcing them on others by normalizing some over others? Is it possible that we as adults could truly educate ourselves, open our minds and not transfer our hate to our children by breeding fear and ignorance of those who look different or do things differently?

According to Armstrong’s 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…treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect”.

Somehow this principle of compassion was deeply violated in the recent attacks against me personally, and against the Muslim community in general, when the Bible distribution story was presented in what I feel was a distorted way in the Record, sending shock waves among those who assumed that a Muslim was attacking the Bible or the Christian faith. Some even went as far as to say that I wanted them all to become Muslim. The fact that an issue was raised by a Muslim automatically made people spew venom and resort to the prejudicial and stereotypical attacks against me and my faith.

What the readers of The Record do not know, is that while I do have a fifth grader in school, when the story appeared, I had not yet received a copy of the Gideon request, nor had I sent a complaint about it to the school board or the Gideons. I merely made a mistake of responding to a request by a reporter asking about my opinion on the issue. Of course, when my faith was mentioned in the story, it got a whole new twist—a Muslim could not possibly be asking for something rational. Something else that I mentioned to the reporter was that this was not an issue about Christianity, since I have studied the Bible, received 12 years of Christian education, and one of my children attends a private Mennonite school. That is a personal choice. What I object to is that a public school system cannot become a vehicle for distribution of religious material of any kind, especially when the aim is clearly to proselytize.

Armstrong’s Charter for Compassion says: “It is necessary in both public and private to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest . . .to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is denial of our common humanity.”

It is this common humanity we fail to recognize when we build barriers between one another, between one religion and another, claiming superiority of mine versus thine. We do wrong all in the name of religion and then blame it all on religion. We fail to make any distinction between the faith and its so called followers. I think Jesus would cringe if he heard the hate expressed toward me or other Muslims, in his name.

Perhaps the Charter for Compassion will guide our leaders in religious institutions as well as in the educational system to ensure that our children and 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.”

Waterloo Region has an opportunity to live in harmony with all or keep building walls between “insiders” and “outsiders”. Politeness is good but honesty and compassion are way better. I urge you all to read and sign on to the Charter for Compassion and encourage the Waterloo Region District School Board to look into using it as a guiding principle in making spirituality and compassion an important part of the educational process.

Idrisa Pandit lives in Waterloo.