5min chapter

In Good We Trust cover image

The Golden Rule

In Good We Trust

CHAPTER

The Complexities of the Golden Rule and the Role of Power

Exploring the universal nature of the Golden Rule and its significance in different religions and philosophies, while acknowledging its limitations and complexities in practice.

00:00
Speaker 2
In Good We Trust is recorded at the Philadelphia Ethical
Speaker 1
Society and Philadelphia PA. For more information about us visit phileathics.org or follow us on Instagram at phileathics. Norman Rockwell's 1961 painting, The Golden Rule, features human beings from all over the world of various ages and ethnicities, simply standing serenely in contemplation of the words. Do unto others what you would have them do unto you. Similar messages are central to all the world's major religions, Buddhism. Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful. Buddhism. Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you. Hinduism. This is the sum of duty. Do not do to others what would cause pain have done to you. Judaism. What is hateful to you? Do not to your fellow man. This is the law. All the rest is commentary. Islam. None of you truly believes. Unless he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself. Ethical humanism. Act to elicit the best in others and you will elicit the best in yourself. The universality of this rule is why Rockwell's painting was dedicated in a 1985 ceremony at the United Nations. At that ceremony the UN Deputy Secretary General praised the paintings embrace of multiculturalism and idealism, both fundamental to the United Nations. He said, at its core the work is about narrowing the gap between the world as it is and the world as we want it to be. And these days we need the empathy and the reciprocity and encourages more than ever. While I embrace its sentiment, the golden rule has been criticized for being overly idealistic and ineffective. I want to explore something that's missing from most expressions of this guide to more living. And that is power. When I apply the golden rule to myself in my daily life it might go something like this. Should I be down on my luck, unhoused and employed and living on the street, I might want to receive a handout from others. Should I then give five dollars to someone camping out on a sidewalk? Have I fulfilled the obligation this rule points out? Strictly speaking, maybe, but as so often is the case the devil is in the details. My token of generosity may be a good thing but it doesn't address in any lasting way a profound inequality of power. It's the reason some people I know approach the golden rule with cynicism. They say that the real golden rule is whoever has the gold makes the rules. After all, religious and political leaders often defend unjust status quo with pithy phrases. I mean the poor have been promised that the meek shall inherit the earth as they've been further disempowered. Roman philosopher Seneca said, treat your inferiors as you would be treated by your superiors. Now, one of my favorite philosophers, Martha Nussbaum, skier is Seneca's approach asking where precisely is the sense of common humanity here. We might equally imagine an argument that said, treat your dogs the way you'd like to be treated by the gods. This blatant elitism is a distortion of the golden rule and it peddles a superficial universality as an ethical good. Those with resources might rhetorically ask, if you were wealthy, you wouldn't want your money to be redistributed to others, would you? This undergirds Gloria Steynan's critique of the oppression of women. She explained that too many women think that the golden rule encourages altruism to the point of selflessness. For many women, she said, the golden rule needs to be reversed. Steynan wrote, I wasn't treating myself as well as I was treating other people. Women need to treat ourselves as well as we treat other people. But unfortunately, women have long been taught that they should embrace so-called feminine characteristics of empathy, humility, sensitivity, deference. Women were told to steer clear of the common areas of life which stressed traits seemingly opposite those, like assertiveness, toughness, and power. In other words, they were told, let men have all the power.

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