Reflexions | Inspiration
Inspiration - What is the Golden Rule?
| 2025-02-09 |     |
The Golden Rule is very old and seems to be a constant in most human cultures. As early as the 5th century B.C., the Chinese philosopher Confucius wrote: "What you don't want done to you, don't do to others."
Closer to us, we find it in Christ's Sermon on the Mount: "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you." (1) In Sunni Islam, we find a teaching of the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) (2) : "None of you will have faith till he wishes for his (Muslim) brother what he likes for himself." Thus, the Golden Rule has traditionally existed in two forms: the first being a prescription (do unto others), and the second a prohibition (do not unto others).
But why has this principle played such an important role in so many civilizations? Probably because, by establishing a principle of reciprocity, it guaranteed a certain fairness in the treatment of all individuals within a society. What's more, it appealed to a sense of fraternity (or love, empathy, compassion, etc.) for the other members of the human race.
Indeed, the Golden Rule (whether in its positive or negative form) necessarily brings with it a corollary, which is the prohibition of "double standards": i.e., an individual should only demand of others the virtuous behavior he himself is capable of demonstrating. In other words, one should know how to practice the virtues one preaches.
Thus, the legitimate demand to respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights necessarily requires every individual to exemplify it in his or her daily behavior. In accordance with the Golden Rule, every right we demand for ourselves is necessarily transformed into a duty to be granted to others.
Indeed, the Golden Rule (whether in its positive or negative form) necessarily brings with it a corollary, which is the prohibition of "double standards": i.e., an individual should only demand of others the virtuous behavior he himself is capable of demonstrating. In other words, one should know how to practice the virtues one preaches.
Thus, the legitimate demand to respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights necessarily requires every individual to exemplify it in his or her daily behavior. In accordance with the Golden Rule, every right we demand for ourselves is necessarily transformed into a duty to be granted to others.
On the other hand, the Golden Rule forbids revenge, which consists in deliberately paying back to others the harm they have done to us; alas, we have seen many political and social movements fail because the struggle for the rights of those who have been wronged did not lead to a demand that these same rights be applied to the entire society - but, on the contrary, to the repetition of the same injustices. Yesterday's victims, driven by a spirit of revenge, become thus the new executioners, and a spiral of violence begins, known as a vendetta: "A long and violent argument between people or families, in which one group tries to harm the other in order to punish them for things that happened in the past." (Cambridge Dictionary) When this vicious circle extends to two countries or two alliances of countries, it's called war. But this is where one has to overcome an objection, a question that every human being has been forced to ask to himself: "What would compel me to forgive the pain and injustice inflicted on me? Doesn't justice demand vengeance?"
The American philosopher Lafayette Ron Hubbard (1913-1986) contributed to this debate by pointing out that, before one can serenely practice the Golden Rule (3), one must first be able to fully experience existence and accept all its consequences, without looking away or allowing oneself to be blinded by pain and resentment. He summed it up this way: "Today, we have two golden rules for achieving happiness:
for achieving happiness: 1. Be able to experience anything. 2. Cause only things that others can easily experience."
And if one looks at the successes of the great humanitarian causes throughout history (be it the establishment of a republic after tyranny, the abolition of slavery or independence from a colonial empire), each was achieved at the price of suffering and sacrifice that often went beyond what was bearable. But the only ones that have borne lasting fruits are those that have broken the spiral of violence once and for all: by abandoning any notion of revenge, and where the victors have treated the vanquished with the kindness and generosity they had never been accorded.
(1) Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:31..(2) Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith No. 13) et Sahih Muslim (Hadith No. 45). (3) L. Ron Hubbard, A New Slant of Life, “The Two Rules for Happy Living”. © 2025 L. Ron Hubbard Library. All rights reserved. We thank the L. Ron Hubbard Library for its permission to reproduce excerpts from L. Ron Hubbard's copyrighted works.