Re: The "New Golden Rule"

Harvey Newstrom (newstrom@newstaffinc.com)
Sat, 16 Jan 1999 11:40:38 -0500

> The old golden rule was fine, the only issue is a semantic one.

No, the old golden rule was a perfect excuse for projecting one's morality onto others.

"I would want someone to intervene if I turned away from God and the true faith, and I will treat my fellow man the same way."

"I would want to be punished if I committed a sin against God until I repented and submitted to God's will, and I will treat my fellow man the same way."

Such believers would never say "Give me the right to choose my own religion, even if it's wrong," and so they would never grant that right to others.

They would never say "Let me make up my own mind without following what the priests tell me to do, or what the Bible tells me to do," and so they would never grant that right to others.

Almost all religious intolerance historically performed by the Christian Church has been done under the sanction of the old Golden Rule.

-- 
Harvey Newstrom <newstrom@newstaffinc.com> <http://newstaffinc.com>
Author, Engineer, Entrepreneur, Consultant, Researcher, Scientist.