The Golden Rule
Don Coldsmith, Syndicated Columnist
Originally published 01:57 p.m., March 3, 2008
Updated 01:57 p.m., March 3, 2008
I think that there are probably a few traits belonging to columnists which are nearly universal. Regardless of the topic and of whether the column is basically serious, humorous, political, sarcastic, religious or all of the above, there is a file folder or a file in the computer somewhere to which we may turn as we begin to write the next columns.
Some of these will be sensitive in time. Times change and what was appropriate last summer may be totally worthless now. Another incentive to clean out the file is that sometimes we will stumble across a clipping or reference that seems to be virtually timeless.
That was the case recently. I have always been fascinated by customs, beliefs and religions other than our own. Maybe it’s partly because of my interest and contact with a few of the American Indian cultures. Their approach has usually been one of interest, rather than denial. Many Christians have a tendency to begin with the assumption that “you’re wrong,” even before they learn anything about the beliefs of others.
I had a bit of experience in the South Pacific, the Philippines and Japan during and after World War II. I attended quite a variety of worship services, usually conducted in languages I didn’t understand. Still, it was possible to feel the religious attitude of the various congregations.
The note card which I stumbled across recently goes back only a few years. It quotes phrases from several established religious philosophies. Let’s take a look.
1. Choose thou for thy neighbor that which thou choosest for thyself.
2. Make thine own self the measure of others, and so abstain from causing hurt to them.
3. Do not to others what ye do not wish done to yourself; and wish for others too what ye desire and long for, for yourself.
4. Love thy neighbor as thyself.
5. None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.
6. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
As I was writing this, I was trying to visualize how it would fit best in a newspaper column. Ultimately, that’s up to the editor/publisher, but it helps the writer sometimes to try to see how it will look in print.
Some of these quotes, for instance, are shorter, some longer. I was shuffling them around. Six, in all. I actually considered some cutting and pasting, which would have been ridiculous. Layout is the publisher’s job. I did number them at one point and when I rejected that idea and began to regroup, I was surprised to find that I had somehow mismatched the quotes with their original sources.
But the quote from Hinduism would fit perfectly the one from Judaism: “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” or that from Islam: “None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.”
I literally could not sort them out without referring to the original documents.
I had only six quotes and six religions, but it was apparent that this principle might cover a lot of territory. Unitarians, for instance, would be quite comfortable with any of these.
Still, it was interesting to find that I was on the right track. I still think it makes more sense to look for things we can agree on than to search for the differences.
In case you’re curious —
1. Baha’i
2. Buddhism
3. Hinduism
4. Judaism
5. Islam
6. Christianity
See you down the road.
Author and columnist Don Coldsmith lives in Emporia.