'Do no harm', shouldn't that be the golden rule?

Question

"This alone possesses more wisdom and care than all the Old Testament laws and New Testament admonishments combined. Nowhere does Jehovah approach such a concise statement of morality, nor does Jesus."

- Kevin Archer

Well, considering you wouldn't harm yourself in certain or would want to be harmed in certain ways it is easy to see in what ways you shouldn't harm others, no?

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you is pretty much the same.

So is loving your neighbor, you wouldn't harm them following this rule.

There are a lot of moral relativists online tonight I see.

If someone drowned and died I did that person by not helping them.

sheesh

Answer 1

Yes, it should be the "Golden Rule". But, I do have to say, there comes a time when one has to step in and cause harm for the better "good". For Justice sake, not to intentionally cause harm for greedy reasons.

Answer 2

If you do unto others as you would want to be done unto yourself, that means you will do no harm in the first place, what you are saying is basicly part of the real golden rule, from now on, Do No Harm is the choclate rule, good if you want it, good if you dont

Answer 3

I'm Pagan but I don't believe in this statement, which is also known as the Wiccan rede: An it harm none, do what thou wilt. I don't believe in it because it's naive to think that your actions will not harm someone, even inadvertently. It's just a way to make people feel all special and altruistic, like the little fluff bunnies they are.

Answer 4

"Do no harm."?
And who wil define what "harm" is?
Not YOU!
and not me, either.

The only person with the right to lay down such commandments is the Loving God of both the OT & NT.

Jesus said:
Matthew 22:36-40 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37 And He (Jesus) said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 "The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."

Answer 5

I disagree. Most of the major religions have a statement that has a similar golden rule. "Do unto others as you would have done unto you" parapharses Jesus' message and actually promotes a Christian ethic that many don't follow. It encourages followers not just not to harm others but to HELP others as well.

Answer 6

" An Ye do no Harm, do as thou will."

That seems to be a very Pagan concept.

I am used to hearing it as a paraphrase of the Hippocratic Oath, "If you can do no good, then do no harm."

I just love hearing the Christians react with such anger in rejecting the concept.

Answer 7

Yes, I agree with the person who talked about sins of omission. If a man was drowning, and I didn't save him when I could very easily. I didn't cause his peril, I didn't do him harm, but he drowned nonetheless. This rule was a good try, but back to the drawing board...

Answer 8

I believe that actions speak louder than any number of written words.

Treat other people as you would have them treat you. Be kind and help people if you can. If we'd all just be a little more loving and giving and less selfish, wouldn't the world be a better place?

Answer 9

Yes they do, the second most important commandment in the greek scriptures is to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said every law hangs on this one and the first commandment witch is to love Jah with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Answer 10

I think the Golden Rule should be that all Golden Rules are inevitably flawed. Life is too complicated to be reduced to a simple rule.