Jesus Christ and the "golden rule"

[japhy]

The “golden rule” – do unto others as you would have others do unto you – appears in countless ancient morality codes. It is often stated that Christ taught it as well.

That is only a half-truth. The problem with the “golden rule” is that it makes each person his own subjective rule: if I like perversity, I can treat others with perversion. Christ radically redefined this second great law of love by giving it an objective standard by which to measure:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13:34)

Comments? Questions?

(Or we can just watch the heresy-parade on the Discovery Channel this week…)

 

[jjdrury81]

Well stated. I have never thought of it in quite that manner before.

 

[LilyM]

It’s one of those ‘bare minmum’ rules, like ‘an eye for an eye’ - it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t aim for less than an eye, or shouldn’t aim to do better by others than you’d wish them to do by you.

I don’t think ‘people who like perversity’ are a real problem - is there anyone who can say with honesty that they actually PREFER to treated poorly - to be lied to, cheated on and so on - and wouldn’t ultimately want to treated well instead? None except a certifiable masochist, surely, and a madman cannot be taken as any guide of morality.

 

[thistle]

The “golden rule” – do unto others as you would have others do unto you – appears in countless ancient morality codes. It is often stated that Christ taught it as well.

That is only a half-truth. The problem with the “golden rule” is that it makes each person his own subjective rule: if I like perversity, I can treat others with perversion. Christ radically redefined this second great law of love by giving it an objective standard by which to measure:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13:34)

Comments? Questions?

(Or we can just watch the heresy-parade on the Discovery Channel this week…)

As Christ taught love, kindness, tolerance and mercy you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand what he meant by “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. Nobody could think he meant anything perverse would be involved!

 

[Salonika]

LilyM:

It’s one of those ‘bare minmum’ rules, like ‘an eye for an eye’ - it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t aim for less than an eye, or shouldn’t aim to do better by others than you’d wish them to do by you.

I don’t think ‘people who like perversity’ are a real problem - is there anyone who can say with honesty that they actually PREFER to treated poorly - to be lied to, cheated on and so on - and wouldn’t ultimately want to treated well instead? None except a certifiable masochist, surely, and a madman cannot be taken as any guide of morality.

Agree with your general sentiment, Lily M. If people want to be treated badly then they need help to clarify why and how to change this not only for their own benefit but for those who are close to them.

However, given that we have different personalities and preferences think we need to do a quick mental check when carrying out “do unto others as you would have others do unto you” to make sure how we are doing will be helpful to them and to us.

For example if someone wants to discuss something I’ve done or not done they will get a better reaction if they if they say it directly to me rather than saying “I need to talk with you soon about something you’ve said or done”. Also I need time to think about what they’ve said before I answer. I need to tell people this so they don’t think that I am ignoring that they are saying or being defensive when I don’t explain immediately.

Also I need to keep their preferences in mind.

A related quote I also have some difficulty with “love your neighbour as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18) as some of us treat ourselves not better but worse than we treat others. Some thing I need to work on!!!