We are joined today by the religious historian and best-selling author Karen Armstrong who has been described as "arguably the most lucid, wide-ranging and consistently interesting religion writer today" (Wikipedia). She is perhaps best known for her books on comparative religion, including A History of God, A Short History of Myth and The Spiral Staircase. Her work focuses on commonalities of the major religions, such as the importance of compassion and the Golden Rule and her latest book Fields of Blood challenges the notion that the wars are generally caused by religion. She received the TED prize in 2008 which was the impetus for the creation of The Charter for Compassion, a document which urges the peoples and religions of the world to embrace the core value of compassion. She’s going to talk to us today about what religion is, why it matters and in what way it relates to the Middle Way.