Ethics of Reciprocity (a.k.a."Golden Rule")

Exceptions to the Golden Rule

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Overview

Religious groups from Asatru to Zoroastrianism as well as non-theistic ethical and philosophic systems, like Humanism and Ethical Culture, differ greatly in their concepts of deity, other beliefs, and practices. However, all of the major world religions and philosophic systems have an Ethic of Reciprocity. In Christianity and Judaism, this is called "The Golden Rule." It is often expressed as "Do onto others as you would wish them do onto you."

However, the Ethic of Reciprocity is not universal. In some cases it is contraindicated.

Religions with a very different version of an "Ethic of Reciprocity:"

We have found two very different, unrelated religions which have one common feature: their rules of behavior are very different than the Ethics of Reciprocity taught by major world religions. They do not teach that one should treat others as one would wish to be treated.

Satanism: Anton Szandor LaVey is the founder of the Church of Satan. He taught that a Satanist should respond with kindness to those who deserve it, and respond with vengeance to those who attack. That is, a Satanist should react to the treatment given by others by responding to them in the same way: LaVey wrote two main lists of rules summarizing his expected behavior by members: The Nine Satanic Statements: "4. Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on ingrates! "5. Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek.!" 1 The Nine Satanic Sins: "3. Solipsism—Can be very dangerous for Satanists. Projecting your reactions, responses and sensibilities onto someone who is probably far less attuned than you are. It is the mistake of expecting people to give you the same consideration, courtesy and respect that you naturally give them. They won’t. Instead, Satanists must strive to apply the dictum of 'Do unto others as they do unto you.' It’s work for most of us and requires constant vigilance lest you slip into a comfortable illusion of everyone being like you...." 7

The Creativity Movement: This group was formerly called the "World Church of the Creator"®   (W.C.O.T.C.) until it lost a trademark infringement suit. Unlike Satanists, they teach a virulent form of racism. They hate non-whites, Jews, and homosexuals. One of their beliefs is that: "What is good for the White Race is the highest virtue; what is bad for the White Race is the ultimate sin." Their religion is based mainly upon love of the white race and hatred of everyone else, who they refer to as members of the "mud races." There have been a number of mass murders which have allegedly been perpetrated by members of the Creativity Movement. 3

	Many individuals involved in the torture and murder of Witches during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance felt that their mission was to help the Witches, and to defend the rest of society. The Witches were tortured until they gave the interrogators what they wanted: a confession in which they renounced their beliefs. They were then executed before they recanted. The church felt that they might then attain Heaven. If they retained their beliefs in Witchcraft, it was believed that they would inevitably be sent to Hell for endless torture. Thus, any amount of torture was justified. It only lasted a few days and saved the Witch from an eternity of similar treatment in Hell.
	In past centuries Christian missionaries, both Protestant and Catholic, invested enormous effort to convert North America's Native population to Christianity. The missionaries generally discounted Native Spirituality as worthless. Many thought that unless a person accepts their European version of Christianity, they would spend eternity in Hell. But the results were not as anticipated. Some suicidologists believe that the extremely high suicide rate among native people in North America is a direct result of the destruction of their aboriginal faith and other aspects of their society by Christian groups.
	Welfare and other social programs that were originally designed to help the poor, can sometimes backfire and entrap the very people they intended to help into a lifetime of dependency that extends to involve their children.
	Many states have passed laws that require teen age women to notify their parents or obtain permission from their parents before they are allowed to have an abortion. The legislators reasoned that when a young woman is pregnant, that she needs all the support that her family can give her. But many teens try to circumvent these laws. They may be afraid of the family disturbance that the news might cause; they may fear physical abuse; they may be concerned about the effect that the news might have on a parent who is in fragile health. For whatever reason, many seek illegal abortions. A few die from infection.

• The Christian Bible: It contains a few passages which discuss religious tolerance. However, it contains many more sections that violate the Ethic of Reciprocity by promoting:
  • Religious intolerance.
  • Genocide of people of other religions,
  • The death penalty for a very broad range of behaviors that are not considered crimes today
  • The murder of individuals engaging in some same-sex behaviors.
  • The torture and rape of prisoners of war
  • The execution of sorcerers, and non-virgin brides,
  • Human slavery and,
  • An inferior status for women.
    
    
• The Qura'n: Although it contains many passages which teach Muslims to treat non-Muslims with dignity, it also has content that instructs Muslims to kill non-Muslims under certain circumstances wherever they are found. Ali Sina is a freethinker and author of an essay "The Golden Rule and Islam. He concludes that the anti-Golden Rule passages outweigh the positive ones in the Qur'an.

References:

1. A.S. LaVey, "The Nine Satanic Statements," in The Satanic Bible, Avon Books (1969), Page 25.
2. Anton Szandor LaVey, "The Nine Satanic Sins," 1987, at: http://www.churchofsatan.com
3. Rev. Matt Hale, "The World to Come," The Struggle, Issue XXVIII. Online at: http://www.creator.org
4. Ali Sina, "The Golden Rule and Islam," FaithFreedom.org, 2005-APR-28, at: http://www.faithfreedom.org/

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