Hello again!
Forgive the joke, but as you can see from my first post nothing is solved with bullets. lol :-)
Now let's try again without the bullets (hope it comes out right this time):
Hello My Friends!
Greetings to all, I’vebeen gone for some time and have some catching up to do here in AdlandPro.
You have a very hotand interesting debate going on here. In the interest of preserving Peace Iwould like to bring to your attention the fact that the Golden Rule is taughtin one shape or form in just about all the religions:
Bahá'í Faith:
"Ascribe not to any soul thatwhich thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doestnot." "Blessed is he who preferreth his brother beforehimself." Baha'u'llah
"And if thine eyes be turnedtowards justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest forthyself." Epistle to the Son of the Wolf
Brahmanism:"This is the sum of Dharma [duty]: Do naught unto others which wouldcause you pain if done to you". Mahabharata, 5:1517 "
Buddhism:
"...a state that is not pleasingor delightful to me, how could I inflict that upon another?"Samyutta NIkaya v. 353
Hurt not others in ways that youyourself would find hurtful." Udana-Varga 5:18
Christianity:
"Therefore all things whatsoeverye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the lawand the prophets." Matthew 7:12, King James Version.
"And as ye would that menshould do to you, do ye also to them likewise." Luke 6:31, King JamesVersion.
"...and don't do what youhate...", Gospel of Thomas 6. The Gospel of Thomas is one of about 40gospels that circulated among the early Christian movement, but which nevermade it into the Christian Scriptures (New Testament).
Confucianism:
"Do not do to others what you donot want them to do to you" Analects 15:23
"Tse-kung asked, 'Is there oneword that can serve as a principle of conduct for life?' Confucius replied, 'Itis the word 'shu' -- reciprocity. Do not impose on others what you yourself donot desire.'" Doctrine of the Mean 13.3
"Try your best to treat othersas you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is theshortest way to benevolence." Mencius VII.A.4
AncientEgyptian:
"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 circa 1800 BCEand may be the earliest version of the Epic of Reciprocity ever written.
Hinduism:
This is the sum of duty: do not do toothers what would cause pain if done to you. Mahabharata 5:1517
Humanism:
"(5)Humanists acknowledge human interdependence, the need for mutual respect andthe kinship of all humanity."
"(11)Humanists affirm that individual and social problems can only be resolved bymeans of human reason, intelligent effort, critical thinking joined withcompassion and a spirit of empathy for all living beings. "
"Don'tdo things you wouldn't want to have done to you, British Humanist Society.
Islam: "None ofyou [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes forhimself." Number 13 of Imam "Al-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths."
Jainism:
"Therefore,neither does he [a sage] cause violence to others nor does he make others doso."Acarangasutra 5.101-2.
"Inhappiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as weregard our own self." Lord Mahavira, 24th Tirthankara
"Aman should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated."Sutrakritanga 1.11.33
Judaism:
"...thoushalt love thy neighbor as thyself.", Leviticus 19:18
"Whatis hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. This is the law: all the rest iscommentary."Talmud, Shabbat 31a.
"Andwhat you hate, do not do to any one." Tobit 4:15
NativeAmerican Spirituality:
"Respectfor all life is the foundation." The Great Law of Peace.
"Allthings are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All isreally One." Black Elk
"Donot wrong or hate your neighbor. For it is not he who you wrong, but yourself."Pima proverb.
RomanPagan Religion:"The law imprinted on the hearts of all men is to love the members ofsociety as themselves."
Shinto:
"Theheart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form"
"Becharitable to all beings, love is the representative of God." Ko-ji-kiHachiman Kasuga
Sikhism:
Compassion-mercyand religion are the support of the entire world". Japji Sahib
"Don'tcreate enmity with anyone as God is within everyone." Guru Arjan Devji 259
"Noone is my enemy, none a stranger and everyone is my friend." GuruArjan Dev : AG 1299
Sufism: "The basisof Sufism is consideration of the hearts and feelings of others. If you haven'tthe will to gladden someone's heart, then at least beware lest you hurtsomeone's heart, for on our path, no sin exists but this." Dr. JavadNurbakhsh, Master of the Nimatullahi Sufi Order.
Taoism:
"Regardyour neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your ownloss."T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien.
"Thesage has no interest of his own, but takes the interests of the people as hisown. 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: forVirtue is faithful." Tao Teh Ching, Chapter 49
UnitarianUniversalism:
"Theinherent worth and dignity of every person;"
"Justice, equity and compassion in human relations.... "
"The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;"
"We affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of allexistence 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 harmsnobody, including yourself). One's will is to be carefully thought out inadvance of action. This is called the Wiccan Rede
Yoruba: (Nigeria): "One going to take a pointed stick to pinch ababy bird should first try it on himself to feel how it hurts."
Zoroastrianism:
"Thatnature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is notgood for itself".Dadistan-i-dinik 94:5
"Whateveris disagreeable to yourself do not do unto others." Shayast-na-Shayast 13:29
Some philosophers' statements are:
Epictetus: "What you would avoidsuffering yourself, seek not to impose on others." (circa 100 CE)
Kant: "Act as if the maxim ofthy action were to become by thy will a universal law of nature."
Plato: "May I do to others asI would that they should do unto me." (Greece; 4th century BCE)
Socrates: "Do not do to othersthat which would anger you if others did it to you." (Greece; 5thcentury BCE)
Seneca: "Treat your inferiorsas you would be treated by your superiors," Epistle 47:11 (Rome; 1stcentury CE)
Examples frommoral/ethical systems are:
Humanism: "...criticalintelligence, infused by a sense of human caring, is the best method thathumanity has for resolving problems. Reason should be balanced with compassionand empathy and the whole person fulfilled." Humanist Manifesto II;Ethics section.
Scientology: "20: Try to treatothers as you would want them to treat you." This is one of the 21moral precepts that form the moral code explained in L. Ron Hubbard's booklet"The Way to Happiness."
Why is it then thatwe can’t just get along (as Rodney King once said)?
The only thing wehave to fear is hate that is running rampant. If we all just practiced the‘Golden Rule’ more often we would win over some of these radicals who are justmisguided individuals. The only Muslims we have to fear are the radicals whoare close minded. If you love your fellow Muslim, Jew, Christian, etc. we willall live in Peace. We can’t appear to be attacking all Muslims because all wewill be doing is giving the good Muslims a reason to convert to the radicalsect of the religion. The Golden Rule is something that is in imbedded in ourDNA, something God put there. It speaks to our spirit, it tells us that is theway we ought to treat each other.
If there’s one thingI’ve learned in my studies is that some men are liars and others areindividuals who are passionate about things they don’t really understand.Because of this men have added their own beliefs to the religion they follow.The one thing that is constant and true is the Golden Rule, a lot of the otherstuff in the so called holy books is concocted by misguided individuals or justdownright hateful people. So many teachings have been borrowed from onereligion or another and more religions are still being created. But we knowwhat is right and wrong, and evil does exist, but we won’t quench evil byspreading more hate. We will only win over are neighbors with love. Leteveryone practice their own religion but no one should forget that the mostimportant rule is the Golden Rule (other than the one that says we should loveour God with all our might).
Love and blessings toall of you from,
John R. Sanchez
YourGoodwill Ambassador