by dh 11 Replies latest watchtower bible
everyone knows the Golden Rule 'do unto others as you would have them do to you'
mostly people seem to see the good side of this rule, i.e. be kind to people if you want them to be kind back, etc, but couldn't it also mean you can be as evil as you want as long as you don't mind if people are evil back to you?
just a thought.
My opinion is that you would have to want whatever treat you give out. It can't be a passive feeling as in you don't mind. But if you really want people to be evil to you, I suppose you could interpret it that way. Of course, my opinion and interpretation comes after years of reading that verse in the New World Translation and JW influence. Now that I no longer see the Bible as an ultimate authority, I simply see that rule as a good principle for dealing with fellow humans.
everyone knows the Golden Rule 'do unto others as you would have them do to you' Does the Golden Rule go both ways?
No, it applies only to you - the rest of us may do as we please.
dh -
couldn't it also mean you can be as evil as you want as long as you don't mind if people are evil back to you?
Why would someone want someone else to do something evil to them? Masochists excluded, of course!
fwiw - I don't think this is a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card for retaliation, either. Rather, I think this is saying this is just a good motto to live by.
growedup
couldn't it also mean you can be as evil as you want as long as you don't mind if people are evil back to you?
Thats where free will comes in. But if you believe the threefold law as well, you get back threetimes as much as what you give out. Thats fine if your giving out good vibes, but it'd put me off getting three times as much evil back to me.
I simply see that rule as a good principle for dealing with fellow humans.
I think that was the intent of it to begin with. The idea is its simple to follow, its simple to understand when putting it into practice and generally speaking it makes the world and societies more pleasant. Unfortunately the opportunists dominate the landscape and are not incumbered by such things as decency.
I think most people religious or not tend to follow this rule except in business or international politics.
I absolutely think the golden rule applies both ways...
"Do unto others as you would have them do to you"
to me has to equally mean:
"Expect other to do to you as you have done to them"
Is it enough to love thy neighbor as thyself ? - such a foundation on it's own for some can include, "what's mine is mine and what's yours is yours" type of think. If one loves God first - ie. the most giving, what is good - then loving neighbour as self is good.
imallgrowedup,
Why would someone want someone else to do something evil to them? Masochists excluded, of course!
The worst punishment you can give a masochist is not to punish them.
imallgrowedup
Why would someone want someone else to do something evil to them?
i don't really know if or why there is anyone out there like that, i was just thinking about the rule from a different perspective. perhaps as a justification for wrongdoing, i.e. a person who does whatever they please regardless of other people because they don't mind having the same done to them, or a person who has already had the bad things done to them, and so does them in return.
i know the reality of the matter isn't like this, since someone who'd do the above probably wouldn't care about the rule in the first place, i was just thinking about it.
(edited because the computer posted by itself)
