Karen Armstrong was born on 14 November 1944 and is a British author and commentator of Irish Catholic descent known for her books on comparative religion.
21 Facts About Karen Armstrong
2.
Karen Armstrong attended St Anne's College, Oxford, while in the convent and majored in English.
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Karen Armstrong's work focuses on commonalities of the major religions, such as the importance of compassion and the Golden Rule.
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Karen Armstrong used that occasion to call for the creation of a Charter for Compassion, which was unveiled the following year.
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Karen Armstrong left her order in 1969 while still a student at Oxford.
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Karen Armstrong did not formally protest this verdict, nor did she embark upon a new topic but instead abandoned hope of an academic career.
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In 1976, Karen Armstrong took a job teaching English at James Allen's Girls' School in Dulwich while working on a memoir of her convent experiences.
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Karen Armstrong described this visit as a "breakthrough experience" that defied her prior assumptions and provided the inspiration for virtually all her subsequent work.
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Karen Armstrong has made several appearances on television, including on Rageh Omaar's programme The Life of Muhammad.
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Karen Armstrong was an advisor for the award-winning, PBS-broadcast documentary Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet, produced by Unity Productions Foundation.
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In 2007 the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore invited Karen Armstrong to deliver the MUIS Lecture.
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Karen Armstrong is a fellow of the Jesus Seminar, a group of scholars and laypeople which attempts to investigate the historical foundations of Christianity.
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Karen Armstrong has written numerous articles for The Guardian and for other publications.
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Karen Armstrong was a key advisor on Bill Moyers' popular PBS series on religion, has addressed members of the United States Congress, and was one of three scholars to speak at the UN's first ever session on religion.
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Karen Armstrong is a vice-president of the British Epilepsy Association, otherwise known as Epilepsy Action.
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In 1999 Karen Armstrong received the Muslim Public Affairs Council's Media Award.
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Karen Armstrong received an honorary degree as Doctor of Letters by Aston University in 2006.
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On 30 November 2011, Karen Armstrong was made honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Saint Andrews.
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In 2017 Karen Armstrong was bestowed Princess of Asturias award in recognition of her investigations into world religions.
20.
Karen Armstrong was described by philosopher Alain de Botton as "one of the most intelligent contemporary defenders of religion", who "wages a vigorous war on the twin evils of religious fundamentalism and militant atheism".
21.
Karen Armstrong has been criticized as misunderstanding theology and medieval history, especially in conservative publications First Things and National Review.