this post was submitted on 07 Feb 2024
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Actual Discussion
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To treat other people in a way that you would want them to treat you.
To help them when they're in trouble.
To share common resources with them.
To be honest with them, and not try to take advantage of them.
Simple but reasonable.
Incomplete, however.
The first item is the so-called "Golden Rule" but it has two formulations, the positive and the negative.
Positive: Do unto others as you would have done unto you. Negative: Do not do unto others that which you would not want done unto you.
Neither of them suffices by themselves. Both of them together are almost unassailable morally speaking.
I think part of the former may be a matter of culture and translation. In many languages and cultures the common sense interpretation of the former is equivalent to including the latter. (I would read the latter as how you would word a written rule or law people are going to try to get around). Some might suggest that "love others as you would love yourself," is of such weight that it automatically includes not doing obviously bad things. I tend to favor "laymen's" interpretations over "letter of the law," style, particularly since in the original context of the golden rule the people who were the problem themselves (Pharisees) were of the latter type.
The history of the Golden Rule long predates Christianity (and, indeed, likely even Judaism), so its original context has nothing to do with Pharisees. It is arguably the oldest moral injunction in written history.
Note that all of those are dated "BCE" and are thus by definition precursors to Christianity. 😉