An Universal Principle

Nearly all religions, ethical systems and philosophies accept the universal moral principle called, "The Golden Rule," sometimes called the "Ethic of Reciprocity."

But many of us believe that the Golden Rule does not go far enough! We need to apply the ethic of reciprocity not only within our own community, but when dealing with persons of other religions, the other gender, other races, other sexual orientations, etc. And we need to apply it, in fact, to the web of life and the Earth itself.

All Religions Recognize the Golden Rule

Here are examples from the world's religions giving one form or another of the Golden Rule, many predating Christianity:

Baha'i Faith: “Lay not on any soul a load that you would not wish to be laid upon you, and desire not for anyone the things you would not desire for yourself.”[Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, LXVI:8 ]

Buddhism: "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." [Udana-Varga 5,18]

Confucianism: "Surely it is the maxim of loving-kindness: Do not unto others that you would not have them do unto you." [Analects 15,23]

Christianity: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” [Matthew 7:12]

Classic Greek: "May I do to others as I would that they should do unto me." [Plato]

Hinduism: "This is the sum of duty: do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you." [Mahabharata 5,1517]

Islam: "No man is a true believer unless he desireth for his brother that which he desireth for himself." [Azizullah, Hadith 150]

Jain: "A man should treat all creatures in the world as he himself would like to be treated." [Sutrakritinga, circa 5th C B.C.; Wisdom of the Living Religions, #69 - I:II:33]

Judaism: "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman. This is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary. [Talmud, Shabbat 3id]

Taoism: "Regard your neighbor's gains as your own gain and your neighbor's loss as your own loss." [T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien]

Wiccan: "Do no harm."

Zoroastrianism: "That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself." [Dadistan-i-dinik 94-5]

Beyond the Golden Rule

Today, many are finding that the Golden Rule doesn't go quite far enough. Or at least, that it must not be misunderstood in a limited way.

A business leader, Dr. Tony Allesandra, puts it this way: "We need to practice the true intent of the Golden Rule, which is, 'do unto others the way they want to be done to.' "  George Bernard Shaw made a similar observation more humorously when he wrote in 1903, "Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same."

A more prosaic example is this piece of folk wisdom from Dana Williams of the Southern Poverty Law center, quoting her mother: "I want you to always treat others like you'd want them to treat you — even if you were barefoot and dressed in rags."

Pentecostal minister Dr. Neil Chadwick puts this more expansive interpretation of the Golden Rule in a traditional Christian trinitarian theological way: "The Golden Rule may be the beginning place for all conscientious people everywhere, but Christ bids us go further. Instead of merely treating others as we would like to be treated, we, in the power of the Holy Spirit, treat others as the Lord would treat them - with sacrificial love and forgiveness."

As Unitarian-Universalists, we would substitute Chadwick's trinitarian theological references for more universal principles, but nonetheless his ultimate point makes sense. We are called to make the world a better place, and that requires learning to understand other people, other faiths, other cultures, and even personality types that differ from our own.

As Dr. Allesandra puts it,

"The Golden Rule implies the basic assumption that other people would like to be treated the way that you would like to be treated. The alternative to the Golden Rule is the Platinum Rule: "Treat others the way they want to be treated." Ah hah! What a difference. The Platinum Rule accommodates the feelings of others. The focus of relationships shifts from "this is what I want, so I'll give everyone the same thing" to "let me first understand what they want and then I'll give it to them."

Dr. Allesandra applies these principles to business relationships, " but others have suggested the same expansion of the Golden Rule to promote the greater good of all people and our planet.

W. A. Spooner (1844-1930) wrote, "The Maxim [of the Golden Rule] does not imply that we should always do to others exactly that which we should wish under our own present circumstances (which may be quite different from theirs) to be done to us. What the maxim implies is that we are, as far as possible, to put ourselves in the place of others; to consider what we would wish to be done to us, were we in their circumstances."

Historian Karl Popper wrote, "The golden rule is a good standard which is further improved by doing unto others, wherever possible, as they want to be done by." (The Open Society and Its Enemies, Vol. 2)

Jesus himself taught this more expansive understanding of the Golden Rule, in his parable of the Good Samaritan. In that parable, the good Samaritan of the story came to the aid of an injured person, even though he was someone who was not socially accepted by the culture of the time, and the injured person would not likely have done the same if the roles were reversed. the lesson for our time is clear: we must also apply the Golden Rule to those we may dislike - the outcasts, the disabled, the homeless, or even those of another political party or of another sexual orientation than us.

A recognition of such a more expansive understanding of the Golden Rule comes when we realize we are all part of the web of life. Native American Sioux spiritual leader Black Elk said, "All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One." Similarly, Chinese philosopher Chu Hsi (1130-1200) said, "The man of humanity regards Heaven and Earth and all things as one body. to him there is nothing that is not himself. Since he has recognized all things as himself, how can there be a limit to his humanity?"

Thus, the Golden Rule is an ethic that should expand beyond the human species, to include all of life.

Gary Suttle, a modern Pantheist, says, "Pantheists strive to treat others as they wish themselves to be treated, but their warm heartedness spreads beyond humankind -- Pantheists agree with those who extend the Golden Rule to relations with other life forms and the Earth itself. "

In fact, each religion and spiritual philosophy has in some way a long-standing tradition of ecological stewardship. In fact, the natural world connects us with the spiritual no matter what our faith. The pressing problems of climate change and the deterioration of the environment call us to expand the Golden Rule in this way.

You can apply the Golden Rule to the Earth by adopting The Green Rule which says: "Do unto the Earth as you would have it do unto you."

The online Encyclopedia Wikipedia sums up the need to understand the Golden Rule in a more expansive way quite cogently:

"The [golden rule] rule is meaningless without identifying the recipient and the situation. Otherwise, a depressed person who wishes to be killed would be morally obligated to kill others. It has to include an attempt to put yourself in the recipient's shoes and evaluate how you would wish to be treated if you were in their situation. Another way to rewrite the rule would be "treat others as you would like to be treated, if you were them."