One must look at the charter of compassion first in order to understand the frame of reference of Karen Armstrongs talk at TED Talks (feed). Armstrong is trying to step beyond the realm of books and elites and arrive at the masses with he plea for compassion, hence the plea to revive the Golden Rule at Ted.
Also implicit remains the exact worries Armstrong has: the world is falling apart because of global crises, economic, political and climatological. Anything that is universal should help to solve the problems. Religion, science, but these are mostly part of the problem, rather than the agents of solution.
Karen Armstrong has evolved from a theologian and a searcher for insight to a woman with a mission.
More Karen Armstrong:
Interfaith and Compassion - Karen Armstrong,
Speaking of Faith and TED.
More TED:
Media revolution and the effect on power - Clay Shirky,
Shay Agassi's visionary plan to bring electric cars to the world,
Elizabeth Gilbert,
Bill Gates,
Stephen Petranek.
