Ive always been a student of philosophy and religion. Im not an expert on either, but Ive taken in enough to have a pretty good idea of the basic tenets of each. (I will ALWAYS be a student because theres always a new wrinkle to explore.) What Ive found is that they vary widely in many ways, but they ALL, each and every one, have one thing in common: in the western tradition, we call it The Golden Rule. It boiils down to one thing: treat other people the way youd like to be treated. The problem is that its almost universally ignored. We get mired in minutia: rules, laws, cultural prohibitions and imperatives. We come together in groups and refine these things until they start to define us and we start to see everyone who isnt a member of our particular group as the other. We huddle in our little enclaves and peer out suspiciously. We may occasionally open the door a crack to let someone else in, but only if they agree to toe the line. With nothing else to do we turn our attention to one another and create factions within factions, split apart and form even smaller, more rigid groups. We concentrate on whats good for us and see the wider world as not only different, but evil. These are the things I think about as a rosey glow appears on the eastern horizon with the promise of a new day. I wish it could really be a new day, one in which The Golden Rule is our guiding light. It starts with you and me.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 11:46:42 +0000
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