The Summit
A Call for a Charter of Love and Compassion
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This letter introduces my call to challenge our global society to aim for a higher civilization. I am appealing to world leaders in politics, science, and religion to help stabilize our situation. By looking at the world around me, I have come to believe that we are about to lose our balance. With all the weight of our technological and economical progress we can no longer stand on just one leg: the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. Although it is extremely important even in its undeveloped form, unfortunately even this rudimentary leg is not fully implemented. To find our balance we have to bring down a second leg, which I will call the Charter of Love and Compassion. In the chapters to come I will explain what that means and how I think it can be implemented. However, before I can do this, we will have to look carefully for the root causes of our problems. The problems themselves, such as environmental degradation, pollution and climate change, loss of biodiversity, the constant economic problems we have, the military threats we face etc, are not my topic per se. I won’t add any new charts or numbers nor will I advocate for the environment or social justice. These are important tasks and I’m grateful to the scientists and advocates who take them on. However, my task is different: I am asking how we came to face these difficulties, and what caused them in the first place. In order to accomplish this very difficult task, I will keep my nose to the ground and trod slowly and carefully even if it means taking a detour. I will not raise my head up into the air and pretentiously proclaim, “I smell human sin” and then quote chapter and verse from the Bible or another sacred book. Instead I’m looking for the root causes of our dilemma in history and evolution, as well as in our human makeup of inherited genetic or psychological traits. Only once we are able to formulate a diagnosis can we then begin to look for a cure. However, I will need help from real experts like you, Professor. I greet you with “Philadelphia”
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About the Book
“The Summit” is not another book of advocacy for the environment though it is a response to such a book by biologist Edward Wilson. It asks the question, what are the root causes of the human dilemma, which now cloud our future and might render the earth unlivable at the turn of the century. “The Summit” is a hike through history and pre-history, and takes the reader to the moment when thinking was born. It challenges the concept of a profit driven society by calling for a new educational concept, which will cultivate our innate abilities like love, compassion and empathy. The new concept will make us forever aware of our interdependence with the biosphere. The dividends in terms of happiness will be much higher than an economic investment can achieve. It will usher in a new age of culture, arts and religion. The call for a New Charter of Love and Compassion must become the rallying point of all who want to ensure that we have a future on this planet. Once the Millennium Generation makes it its battle cry we will see real change happening. Asking for the purpose of your life? Here it is: help us shape and bring about the New Charter. Life will be fun again. “The Summit” is a manifesto for this purpose.
About the Author
Born in Germany in 1941, Friedmut Wilhelm lost his father to the war shortly after birth and was raised along with three older sisters by his mother in what would become communist East Germany. He studied theology at the Humboldt University in East Berlin in order to become a Lutheran pastor, and attended courses in philosophy, history and art history. He also pursued a childhood interest in paleontology. In the course of his ministry in East Germany and in working for a more humane and compassionate society, he frequently ran into conflicts with the communist authorities. Inspired by the civil rights movement in America, Pastor Wilhelm worked intensively and successfully with the youth, which increasingly irritated the East German regime. In 1979, he accepted a call from a congregation in Western Canada, where he moved with his wife and children and served in a number of congregations.