"The Golden Rule" (atheist, Commandment, Christianity, Christians)
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I don't think you understand the Golden Rule. It is not about expectations or what you get back at all. It is a reminder that our foremost natural human tendency is to do what benefits ourselves and to remember to think differently.
Humans are by nature selfish. We are born that way. You and your nice neighbor included. Your neighbor probably gets satisfaction from doing nice things for others, and that's great, and that is something he learned somewhere along the way.
It's always the most fun to do sonething for someone and never let them know you did it. There is no expectation from another in that at all, but that is an example of the Golden Rule.
I believe that is the wrong premise to start with and it is not true. Our nature is goodness, that is our natural self. Feelings of empathy, love, joy and kindness are natural to us. You cannot learn these feelings. The fact that we feel good when we do good underscores the fact that it is our natural state of being. We don't learn to feel good for doing good, it arises naturally.
That our true nature gets hidden is due to extreme malady - abuse, mental illness, deprivation, hateful indoctrination. Even under those circumstances many people show generosity and kindness, extreme heroism and forgiveness, regret for past wrongs, expressing the divine spirit within. When even animals show generosity and kindness naturally, how can we not?
Obviously we both are starting from very different places and so our views differ. That is what I understand from this interaction.
Some people can’t let go of their egos and simply fancy themselves the most intelligent, insightful, and morally superior person on all subjects at all times.
That is too bad. Learn to be more gracious and have some humility. You may learn something
I don't think you understand the Golden Rule. It is not about expectations or what you get back at all. It is a reminder that our foremost natural human tendency is to do what benefits ourselves and to remember to think differently.
Humans are by nature selfish. We are born that way. You and your nice neighbor included. Your neighbor probably gets satisfaction from doing nice things for others, and that's great, and that is something he learned somewhere along the way.
It's always the most fun to do sonething for someone and never let them know you did it. There is no expectation from another in that at all, but that is an example of the Golden Rule.
To the bolded........ It's a basic concept. To call it "The Golden Rule" is kind of silly because it is such a generic statement that means absolutely nothing to some. The "right thing" is not the right thing to others who don't think normally. Some will never understand what "the right thing" is. Whatever they do, it's the right thing to them. Doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, just them. It's what matters....to them. It's typical behavior of a narcissist, for instance. I think it is some sort of mental block of certain emotions.
We are indeed born selfish, it takes a lot of work not to be. I'm finding more and more that everyone my age or younger, want to be taken care of and don't want to contribute a damn thing to society. They want to suck the life out of it, every last breath. Gobble up everything til it's all gone. There is a huge hole of dissatisfaction in someone like that. They will never, as long as they live, be satisfied. It's pretty sad, actually.
It is very easy to change someone's day by an anonymous act of kindness, and it doesn't take a god to perform that act of kindness. You have to find it within yourself to do it on your own. I really hate it when people say "it was god that willed me to do it"......NO. YOU, did it. You are solely responsible for your own success or demise.
There's a lot to dodging your own demise. There's no one to blame except oneself. For some reason a lot of folks can't accept that. I see and hear a whole lot of blaming others going on. I'd venture to say that kindness is the foundation upon which all other good things are built. You just can't go wrong with kindness. Even if you're the meanest person in all of the history of the internet....come on, give it a try.
It is what it says. It places the ME front and center.
Do unto others ...?
Quote:
Originally Posted by cb2008
The darker side of the not-golden rule is revenge, tit for tat. Revenge may be the thing in some religions, but others consider revenge as resulting in suffering for all, as soul destroying. Jesus obviously meant something more that quid pro quo.
That is not the golden rule as people (usually) do not want revenge done to them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cb2008
Respect for ME is what accrues based on actions, it is earned. It cannot be bought as quid pro quo.
It takes a full and complete brain and the use of it to understand why the golden rule is not what it seems. It is fake. Just because it has been often repeated unthinkingly it does not have the value attributed to it unthinkingly.
Forget Plato, Seneca, Thales and Epicurus, Confucius, Aristotle, all idiots, CB has spoken.
So from your link, 'The golden rule is an important philosophical principle, which has been formulated in various ways by many different groups throughout history', yet you just called it fake.
I believe that is the wrong premise to start with and it is not true. Our nature is goodness, that is our natural self. Feelings of empathy, love, joy and kindness are natural to us. You cannot learn these feelings. The fact that we feel good when we do good underscores the fact that it is our natural state of being. We don't learn to feel good for doing good, it arises naturally.
Also true for hate, pain, fear, hunger. Our nature is not these, our nature is to survive so we can pass on our genes, and these attributes (including love) is how we achieve that goal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cb2008
Obviously we both are starting from very different places and so our views differ. That is what I understand from this interaction.
Yes, your views are tainted by the idea that reality is love. You are imposing your wishes onto an uncaring universe, one that requires the golden rule for weak, communal apes to live together.
Also true for hate, pain, fear, hunger. Our nature is not these, our nature is to survive so we can pass on our genes, and these attributes (including love) is how we achieve that goal.
Yes, your views are tainted by the idea that reality is love. You are imposing your wishes onto an uncaring universe, one that requires the golden rule for weak, communal apes to live together.
it can just as easily be said that the view above is tainted by the idea of an uncaring universe, and you are imposing your wishes onto it that humans are weak communal apes.
Last edited by Tzaphkiel; 07-22-2023 at 04:01 PM..
That is not the golden rule as people (usually) do not want revenge done to them.
Forget Plato, Seneca, Thales and Epicurus, Confucius, Aristotle, all idiots, CB has spoken.
you forgot Hume
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