WHEN Christ taught "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them for this is the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 7:12), he also made it clear he wasn't the first to come out with the golden rule.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Jesus was emphasizing the statement in the book of Leviticus (19:18) "You shall love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord". Judaism's Talmud, Shabbat similarly asserts "what is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow man. This is the entire Law, the rest is commentary."
Islam has a similar doctrine (hadith 13 of Imam Al-Nawawi's 40 hadiths): "No one of you is a true believer until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself." So too Buddhism: "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." (Udana-Varga 5,1).
It may appear that the golden rule was born of common sense and fear of retribution from angry neighbours.
An eye for an eye does have the potential to make the whole world blind. But then again, when the standard of love required is set to the difficult "as yourself" level, that standard goes beyond common sense into the realm of humanity. In this particular aspect, wouldn't it be so that religions, by virtue of the golden rule, whether their doctrines are based on belief in a divine godhead or purely on a code of human conduct, have already built a bridge to God himself?
Would it not be so that those who love and live by the golden rule already have the golden ticket to His kingdom?
Trouble starts when the different monotheistic faiths each claim to be the sole channel to divinity. Religion is a funny thing. Defined objectively and non-emotively, it is a particular set of beliefs. But beliefs define who we are.
We like who we are, we are proud of what we believe in. Who likes being told they may be having it wrong all along?
Here comes the $60 million question: what if all faiths may have it right? What if no singular religious faith can claim God as its exclusive proprietary right and His kingdom as their exclusive domain in the thereafter?
Who is to say that anyone, be they Christian or not, who follows Christ's second commandment that you shall love your neighbour as yourself is not also fulfilling his greatest commandment also? Both are inextricably intertwined. How else do you truly show that you "love the Lord thy God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength" (Matthew 22:37) unless you also love others as yourself?
Of course there are times when this is easier said than done but I guess it is only when you go against yourself can you show what our Creator has been trying to tell us all along.
That His love is non-tribal.
