The Golden Rule

"So, then, all the things which you wish that men should do to you, so you too do to them; for this is the law of the prophets." Matthew 7:12
Here we read probably the most universally famous thing that Jesus ever said. It has been referred to as the "Everest of teachings." Jews, Greeks, Romans, Buddhist and more have latched on to the idea of this teaching, but always in the negative form. For example - Confucius the philosopher was famous for his well known principle "Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself"
So... why have so many folks focused on the negative version of this rule, rather than the positive? Well, that's easy. It requires nothing of you. Seriously... nothing. It actually requires inaction. When this rule is lived out in it's negative form, it requires no religious, moral, or spiritual conviction. It's just a commonsense statement without which life could not exist... "don't kill people, because you don't want people to kill you." You could actually argue that folks stole this little guy from the 10 Commandments... So, God still gets credit for it.
This rule can be kept by anyone who has no belief and no interest in religion or spirituality. You could follow this rule your whole life, yet still be quite useless as a citizen. 
Jesus' spin on this rule "Do to others as you would have them do to you" commands us that we must actively do something. It introduces new principles and an attitude we ought to have towards others. It challenges us to go out of our way to help and be kind to others. It requires us to spend less time on our own desires and activities and more time concerned with others.
This makes me wonder about atheism... I wonder if an argument can be made that an atheist who is kind and helpful to others has been influenced not by unreligious and unspiritual teachings and morals... but by Jesus' positive "can-do" way of life. 
Imagine a world dominated by people who followed this rule. 


The Golden Rule