The Golden Rule

By Reverend Ed Crabtree, ULC

     It has often been said that the Africans have an adage that "It takes an entire Village to raise one child," this profound statement if true, means that as a national village we as Americans have failed miserably. When the courts required our educators to remove prayer from our schools, administrators also removed other items that had religious significance rather than to expose their districts to possible legal litigation. One of these items were banners admonishing the reader to follow the Golden Rule as found in Matthew 7:12. Removal of this signage and the subsequent failure to teach the simple command as handed down to us by Jesus Christ, a simple rule that even most atheists would agree only makes common sense, has resulted in far reaching implications, in particular many of the incidents that we see reported upon in our contemporary news media.

     Many of us that have gray hair remember a time when the phrase "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," could be seen on banners and posters proudly displayed in homes, schools, public offices and the workplace across this great land. However today we seldom see this wonderful concept displayed anywhere. Perhaps as religious leaders, concerned parents, and educators, we should again remind our children that by following this simple precept that our world would be a much better place.

     As I understand the reports in the media, the recent legal ruling banning the use of the word God in the Pledge of Allegiance was brought about by a legal proceeding instigated by a man who didn't want his child forced to participate in a concept that he did not personally believe in, that of the existence of a supreme being. And in standing up for his rights of freedom of speech and expression he asked that his child be excused from saying the pledge which resulted in the child being ridiculed by her classmates and suffering psychological harm. He claims that this situation, that of his child being the target of her classmate's ridicule lead him to bring suit. Is it possible that if the parents and spiritual leaders of the children in that child's class had taught those other children to be tolerant of the beliefs of others, to love their fellow man unconditionally as Jesus admonished, and to always follow the concept of the Golden Rule, that this entire debacle regarding the ridiculous court order could have been avoided?

     Obviously we can argue that had not prayer been removed from the classroom, many of the unfortunate incidents of the past few years, in our schools and workplaces could have been avoided, however failing to teach the Golden Rule in particular, has lead to a situation in our country that lately has had far reaching economic and political implications. If everyone from the top CEOs down to the lowest entry level employee in the workplace, if every employee in the public sector, if every Mother and Father had just made an effort to just try to practice the principle of the Golden Rule and in effect bear witness by their example to our youth, perhaps we would not see on such a major scale the fraud, greed and corruption in our major corporations that currently is playing such havoc with our economic system. I am sure of the response you would get if you asked the officers at Enron and WorldCom, as well as others who currently face investigation for financial misdealing, "Would you have liked it if you had been treated in the same manner as you have treated your investors?" What about those who have committed acts of road rage that resulted in the injury or death of other drivers, what would they reply to this same question? What about all the other individuals that have been found responsible for their actions or failing to act in a situation that resulted in an injury, real or financial, to another person. When asked this question no rational person will honestly reply that they would have enjoyed seeing their financial investments misused for another persons private greed and lust for grandeur opulence, no sane person will say that they would enjoy being ridiculed, cutoff in traffic, suffer personal attack or otherwise harmed by a stranger or acquaintance.

     Now I am not naïve enough to believe that by widespread teaching of the Golden Rule that we can quickly enact social change, but I do have faith that if we can inculcate the use of the concept in order to get people to just stop and think for a moment, just one millisecond of hesitation before uttering a disparaging phrase, before cutting someone off in traffic, before adopting a corporate policy that although highly profitable is possibly fraudulent or against ethical standards, before making a seemingly innocuous remark in front of our children that might influence them to do something we would have preferred them not to do, perhaps slowly but surely we can influence in a positive manner our friends and associates, as well as young who will someday grow up to be our religious, business, and political leaders.

     The Golden Rule is more than just an important teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, the common sense and ethical implications are enormous. When you stop to think that almost all religions teach a similar concept, and when even atheists can put aside the religious roots of this teaching and consider the common sense value of the tenet, the concept becomes universal, and can be accepted and taught by all regardless of their system of belief.

     In my opinion, the removal of the word "God" from our Pledge of Allegiance would be a travesty, and an insult to the memory of all those brave folks who have gave their all to defend our country and those same rights inculcated by the man who brought forth the lawsuit. Our American Heritage and History would be defamed should this ruling become an enforceable law. But this controversy is another example of how our system of justice must step in when we fail to police our own actions. If we don't take steps to prevent a situation like this from happening, we find our leaders enacting laws that seem to defy our heritage, history and as well our religious, ethical and moral beliefs. So as concerned parents, concerned citizens, political and religious leaders, let us reflect upon the concept of the Golden Rule, let us try to use it as a common sense guide when we make a decision, let us bear witness to others by our leadership in adopting this teaching of Christ and that of almost every other spiritual or religious following into each our daily lives, let us teach our children by our own actions and lead our people by precept and example and always endeavor to do unto others as we would them do unto us.