Review of 'Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Karen Armstrong is an intellectual theologian, with past experience as a Catholic nun. The Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life book heavily references Eastern philosophical and religious tradition, no doubt as one Eastern religious tradition's fundamentalist renegade group is in current conflict with some Western industrial superpower nations. Armstrong enumerates and describes each of the twelve steps toward a compassionate life imagining her audience is of primarily Western civilization and familiar with Christian doctrine and ethos, challenging us to recognize, identify and empathize with the "other" to resolve conflict. Some people struggle to share the perspective of other belief systems that seem comparatively limiting of certain people's rights, and Karen Armstrong, although no doubt aware of that crevasse, doesn't specifically offer any strategies. What she has supplied in an appendix is a list of suggested readings, to gain familiarity with other major belief traditions that in her opinion could benefit …
Karen Armstrong is an intellectual theologian, with past experience as a Catholic nun. The Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life book heavily references Eastern philosophical and religious tradition, no doubt as one Eastern religious tradition's fundamentalist renegade group is in current conflict with some Western industrial superpower nations. Armstrong enumerates and describes each of the twelve steps toward a compassionate life imagining her audience is of primarily Western civilization and familiar with Christian doctrine and ethos, challenging us to recognize, identify and empathize with the "other" to resolve conflict. Some people struggle to share the perspective of other belief systems that seem comparatively limiting of certain people's rights, and Karen Armstrong, although no doubt aware of that crevasse, doesn't specifically offer any strategies. What she has supplied in an appendix is a list of suggested readings, to gain familiarity with other major belief traditions that in her opinion could benefit from greater understanding.
