If everyone lived under their religion's Golden Rule, wouldn't the world be at better peace?

Question

Some "Ethic of Reciprocity" passages from the religious texts of various religions and secular beliefs:
Bahá'í World Faith: "Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not." "Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself." Baha'u'llah
"And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest for thyself." Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Brahmanism: "This is the sum of Dharma [duty]: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you". Mahabharata, 5:1517 "
Buddhism: "...a state that is not pleasing or delightful to me, how could I inflict that upon another?" Samyutta NIkaya v. 353
Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." Udana-Varga 5:18

Christianity: "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." Matthew 7:12, King James Version.
"And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." Luke 6:31, King James Version.
"...and don't do what you hate...", Gospel of Thomas 6. The Gospel of Thomas is one of about 40 gospels that were widely accepted among early Christians, but which never made it into the Christian Scriptures (New Testament).

Confucianism: "Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you" Analects 15:23
"Tse-kung asked, 'Is there one word that can serve as a principle of conduct for life?' Confucius replied, 'It is the word 'shu' -- reciprocity. Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.'" Doctrine of the Mean 13.3
"Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence." Mencius VII.A.4

Ancient Egyptian: "Do for one who may do for you, that you may cause him thus to do." The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, 109 - 110 Translated by R.B. Parkinson. The original dates to 1970 to 1640 BCE and may be the earliest version ever written. 3

Hinduism: This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you. Mahabharata 5:1517

Humanism: "(5) Humanists acknowledge human interdependence, the need for mutual respect and the kinship of all humanity."
"(11) Humanists affirm that individual and social problems can only be resolved by means of human reason, intelligent effort, critical thinking joined with compassion and a spirit of empathy for all living beings. " 4
"Don't do things you wouldn't want to have done to you, British Humanist Society. 3

Islam: "None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself." Number 13 of Imam "Al-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths." 5
Jainism: "Therefore, neither does he [a sage] cause violence to others nor does he make others do so." Acarangasutra 5.101-2.
"In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as we regard our own self." Lord Mahavira, 24th Tirthankara
"A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated. "Sutrakritanga 1.11.33

Judaism: "...thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.", Leviticus 19:18
"What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. This is the law: all the rest is commentary." Talmud, Shabbat 31a.
"And what you hate, do not do to any one." Tobit 4:15 6

Native American Spirituality: "Respect for all life is the foundation." The Great Law of Peace.
"All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One." Black Elk
"Do not wrong or hate your neighbor. For it is not he who you wrong, but yourself." Pima proverb.

Roman Pagan Religion: "The law imprinted on the hearts of all men is to love the members of society as themselves."
Shinto: "The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form"
"Be charitable to all beings, love is the representative of God." Ko-ji-ki Hachiman Kasuga

Sikhism: Compassion-mercy and religion are the support of the entire world". Japji Sahib
"Don't create enmity with anyone as God is within everyone." Guru Arjan Devji 259
"No one is my enemy, none a stranger and everyone is my friend." Guru Arjan Dev : AG 1299

Sufism: "The basis of Sufism is consideration of the hearts and feelings of others. If you haven't the will to gladden someone's heart, then at least beware lest you hurt someone's heart, for on our path, no sin exists but this." Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh, Master of the Nimatullahi Sufi Order.
Taoism: "Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss." T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien.
"The sage has no interest of his own, but takes the interests of the people as his own. He is kind to the kind; he is also kind to the unkind: for Virtue is kind. He is faithful to the faithful; he is also faithful to the unfaithful: for Virtue is faithful." Tao Teh Ching, Chapter 49

Unitarian: "We affirm and promote respect for the interdependent of all existence of which we are a part." Unitarian principles.
Wicca: "An it harm no one, do what thou wilt" (i.e. do what ever you will, as long as it harms nobody, including yourself). One's will is to be carefully thought out in advance of action. This is called the Wiccan Rede
Yoruba: (Nigeria): "One going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it on himself to feel how it hurts."
Zoroastrianism: "That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself". Dadistan-i-dinik 94:5
"Whatever is disagreeable to yourself do not do unto others." Shayast-na-Shayast 13:29




Some philosophers' statements are:
Epictetus: "What you would avoid suffering yourself, seek not to impose on others." (circa 100 CE)
Kant: "Act as if the maxim of thy action were to become by thy will a universal law of nature."
Plato: "May I do to others as I would that they should do unto me." (Greece; 4th century BCE)
Socrates: "Do not do to others that which would anger you if others did it to you." (Greece; 5th century BCE)
Seneca: "Treat your inferiors as you would be treated by your superiors," Epistle 47:11 (Rome; 1st century CE)



Examples from moral/ethical systems are:
Humanism: "...critical intelligence, infused by a sense of human caring, is the best method that humanity has for resolving problems. Reason should be balanced with compassion and empathy and the whole person fulfilled." Humanist Manifesto II; Ethics section.
Scientology: "20: Try to treat others as you would want them to treat you." This is one of the 21 moral precepts that form the moral code explained in L. Ron Hubbard's booklet "The Way to Happiness."

Answer 1

thank you this shows that today's version of morals are not just in the bible, that we all have a sense of morals and ethics which obviously all people are deriving from another source. perhaps we have an inner sence of morals and beliefs given from birth. maybe we get our ethics from our experiences the one true teacher. and perhaps we pick up our morals on our family and friends. one thing is certain you dont have to be of any peticular religion to be a good and just human being.

Answer 2

I am placed on this earth to herald the religious revival that will follow from the resurrection of MR. T. We will bask in his glory as he Pities (satan) da' fool. He will also placeth his seed into all the daughters of Eve so that he can give rise to a new generation of converts and zealots that will rise up against the awful oppression that has been placed upon our backs. He will lead us out of the darkness and into the LIGHT.His radiance will issue forth and spread the light. And he alone will stand to be judged before THE LORD! He will tell the lord "Watch out Ima firin ma lazor" and the LORD will say "Oz Noes" and the LORD will perish from the cleansing fire that will be bestowed upon him. And Mr. T and his Shoop-de-woop will rule THE GARDEN. And just as I have said it it will be so. And I will be hailed as a prophet and rewarded for my service to the NEW LORD (Mr. T) and Mr. T's holy text will be written solely in 1337.

Answer 3

Hello Dear!
Very nice question and most important is that you have really worked hard to prepare the question. Actually I don't need to write this long to answer the question.
You are very right. KRISHNA, BUDDHA, JESUS everyone are "AVTARAS". They have reached to ultimate joy or you can say that they have experienced GOD or BLISS. What they felt, experienced tried to either tell other people, tried to teach or put on paper.
Unfortunately, for those Golden Rule, you also need same level to understand and experience. For exemple: You yourself believe that Anger is bad. My question to you is "Can you control your anger all the time and in all circumstances?" I don't need answer from you. You just ask yourself and find out by yourself. Or there can be something else where you believe something and you react differently.
See, to answer your question, reading scriptures and going to Church or Temple or just believing in those Saints will not help you to achieve what you are looking for. You have to take yourself way up to match your level to Jesus, Krishna or other you believe in. They are not GOD. They were humans and achieved the level where people pray them as GOD. You are same also. You can reach to the same level of Krishna or Jesus. You have to start working and walking in that direction.
Yes, if every single human on Globe will start working as Krishna or Jesus, then this earth will be Golden itself. No war, No sadness, No problems at all.
I hope I have tried to explain my best since you have worked so hard to find out the answer on this question.
God Bless You!

Answer 4

Maybe but you need to realize that some use religion to stamp out what they deem evil or offensive. These Golden Rules are nothing more than human deceny really. If everyone lived that way, yes, life would be grand. Religion has nothing to do with it though. Morals and religion are two different things.

Answer 5

Well the golden rule just seem to perfect on paper but in practicality it is not possible. no one actualy follows it because they are too busy to actual notice that they have just treated a person like junk. so yes the world would be perfect if everyone would follow the golden rule... but how bout those people who expect to be treated like junk, how are they going to treat others? Think about it.

Answer 6

If the "Golden Rule" is the only thing you have to base your morality on, then we have to release all the pedophile priest from prison. After all, they were only doing to those children what they would like done to them. There has to be more to morality then just the Golden Rule. Other rules are needed to define what is proper things that we should be desiring to others.

So, no, just the Golden Rule is not enough to save society or any person within it.

Answer 7

I think some already think they are living under there so called Golden rule.
By condemning the rest of us to hell for not believing in there ONE true God.

So let them judge.. they don't have anything else to do.

Answer 8

No the Golden rule is highly flawed, it assumes we all like the same treatment. Personally I believe in the "Iron Rule", do unto others AS they do unto you.

Answer 9

You are right.
The problem is that we expect that other people should do the good things, and we don't do them ourselves. Moreover, in the field of religion, practice is far more valuable than theory.

Answer 10

Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes!!! Good for you! I'm giving you as many stars as Yahoo! will allow!