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Shared belief in the "Golden Rule"
(a/k.a. Ethics of Reciprocity)

Quotations:

• Dalai Lama:"Every religion emphasizes human improvement, love, respect for others, sharing other people's suffering. On these lines every religion had more or less the same viewpoint and the same goal."
• Origin unkown: The Law of One: "We are all one. When one is harmed, all are harmed. When one is helped, all are healed"

Overview:

The Ethic of Reciprocity -- often called the Golden Rule in Christianity -- simply states that we are to treat other people as we would wish to be treated ourselves.

Almost all organized religions have such an ethic. It is normally intended to apply to the entire human race. Unfortunately, it is too often applied by some people only to fellow believers.

Topics covered in this section:

• Background. Failure of religions. Why the Ethic of Reciprocity is particularly important now.
  
  
• Passages from the religious texts of various religions: Baha'i, Buddhism, Christianity...
  
  
• Additional passages from religions, philosophers and moral/ethical systems
  
  
• Exceptions to the Golden Rule
  
  
• Is it OK to harm a few people in order to benefit the majority?

Golden Rule resources from Scarboro Missions:

CoNexus Multifaith Media and Paul McKena have published "Guidelines for Golden Rule Workshop." It can be downloaded from the Scarboro Missions web site, and may be reproduced subject to restrictions. A Golden Rule poster is also available. See: http://www.scarboromissions.ca/

Scarboro Missions in Ontario Canada have a large section on their web site devoted to the Golden Rule. Featured topics include:

• The Golden Rule poster which shows excerpts from the sacred writings of 13 religions that promote the rule. It is 22" x 29" (56 x 74 cm).
• Excerpts from the sacred writings of 13 religions in five languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian and German.
• Resources for group discussions.
• The Golden Rule and the environment

See: Guidelines for a Golden Rule Educational Resources, at: http://www.scarboromissions.ca/

A parenting book by Nancy Eastman that stresses the Golden Rule:

 Nancy has written an ebook titled: "Parenting Today With Respect and Responsibility; How to Teach Your Children to Live By the Golden Rule." See her website at GoldenRule4Everyone.com.

A very beautiful video by the Humanity Healing Network.

They wove many versions of the Golden Rule into an incredibly moving video. Well worth watching! I have seen it many times and it still causes my eyes to tear up.

This video, and viewers' comments may be seen at: http://youtu.be/

A video: "Let's revive the Golden Rule:"

The very well known religious historian and author Karen Armstrong delivered the following presentation during a TEDTalk.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where "the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes."

This video, and viewers' comments may be seen at: http://youtu.be/

A list of books on the Golden Rule from Amazon.com:

If you see a generic Amazon.com ad here, or to see a new selection of books, click on your browser's refresh key

The Golden Rule poster is Copyright © Scarboro Missions 2002.
The remainder copyright © 1995 to 2011 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2011-AUG-14
Author: B.A. Robinson

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