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SHARED BELIEF IN THE "GOLDEN RULE"
Religious
Beliefs Governing Behavior Towards Other People
Faith groups differ greatly in their concepts of deity, other
beliefs and practices. But there is near unanimity of opinion among
the world's various historical religions on how one person should
treat another. Almost all religions have passages in their holy
texts which promote the Ethic of Reciprocity. The most commonly
known ethic of reciprocity in North America is the Golden Rule of
Christianity:
- Bahá'í: "Ascribe not to any soul that
which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that
which thou doest not." "Blessed is he who preferreth
his brother before himself." Baha'u'llah
- Brahmanism: "This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto
others which would cause you pain if done to you". Mahabharata,
5:1517
- Buddhism: "a state that is not pleasing or delightful
to me, how could I inflict that upon another?" Samyutta NIkaya
v. 353 Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful."
Udana-Varga 5:18
- Christianity: "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would
that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." Matthew
7:12 "...and don't do what you hate...", Gospel of Thomas
6
- Confucianism: "Do not do to others what you do not want
them to do to you" Analects 15:23 "Tse-kung asked, 'Is
there one word that can serve as a principle of conduct for life?'
Confucius replied, 'It is the word 'shu' -- reciprocity. Do not
impose on others what you yourself do not desire.'" Doctrine
of the Mean 13.3
- Hinduism: "One should not behave towards others in a
way which is disagreeable to oneself" Mencius Vii.A.4 "This
is the sum of duty: do naught unto others which would cause you
pain if done to you." Mahabharata 5:1517
- Islam: "Not one of you is a believer until he loves
for his brother what he loves for himself" Forth Hadith of
an-Nawawi 13
- Jainism: "Therefore, neither does he [, a sage,] cause
violence to others nor does he make others do so." Acarangasutra
5.101-2. "In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we
should regard all creatures as we regard our own self." Lord
Mahavira, 24th Tirthankara
- Judaism: "...thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.",
Leviticus 19:18 "What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow
man. This is the law: all the rest is commentary." Talmud,
Shabbat 31a
- Native American Spirituality: "Respect for all life
is the foundation." The Great Law of Peace
- Roman Pagan Religion: "The law imprinted on the hearts
of all men is to love the members of society as themselves."
- Shinto: "The heart of the person before you is a mirror.
See there your own form"
- Sikhism: "Compassion-mercy and religion are the support
of the entire world". Japji Sahib "Don't create enmity
with anyone as God is within everyone." Guru Arjan Devji
259
- Taoism: "Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain,
and your neighbor's loss as your own loss." T'ai Shang Kan
Ying P'ien. "I am good to the man who is good to me, likewise,
I am also good to the bad man." Tao Te Ching
- Wicca: "A'in it harm no one, do what thou wilt"
(i.e. do what every you want to, as long as it harms nobody, including
yourself). The Wiccan Rede
- Yoruba: (Nigeria): "One going to take a pointed stick
to pinch a baby bird should first try it on himself to feel how
it hurts."
- Zoroastrianism: "That nature alone is good which refrains
from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself".
Dadistan-i-dinik 94:5
The one exception that we have found is in the Church of Satan:
- Satanism: "4. Satan represents kindness to those who
deserve it instead of love wasted on ingrates! 5. Satan represents
vengeance instead of turning the other cheek.!" A.S. LaVey,
The Nine Satanic Statements.
Exceptions
to the Golden Rule
Any rule must be applied carefully, and with full knowledge
of the likely consequences. Many of the above "golden rules"
imply that there is some absolute standard on what is beneficial
and what is harmful.Consider:
- George Bernard Shaw, (1903): "Do not do unto others
as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not
be the same."
A lot of harm has been done historically, in the name of helping
other people. Some examples:
- Many individuals involved in the torture and murder of Witches
during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance felt that their mission
was to help both society and the Witches. The latter would be
given a chance to renounce their beliefs and be executed before
they recanted. This might give them access to Heaven rather than
being sent to Hell for endless torture.
- Some suicidologists believe that the extremely high suicide
rate among native people in North America is a direct result of
the destruction of their aboriginal faith and other aspects of
their society by Christian groups.
- Social programs that were originally designed to help the
poor, can sometimes backfire and entrap the very people they intended
to help.
Before applying the golden rule, we should take care that we
are really helping people, and not harming them.
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