In this world….
There are so many legitimate rights that can be fought for…..
There are so many wrongs that need to be righted…..
There are so many ideologies, which is correct and which is incorrect?
There are so many beliefs.. which are correct and which are incorrect?
There are so many religions.. which are correct and which are incorrect?
In the end, is there any peace to be had, even if justice is served to all?
In the end, is there any peace to be had, even if all wrongs are righted?
We find ourselves further than ever from finding a common ground where we can enjoy our diversity, while at the same time, having a common standard of conduct!
Because we humans come from so many varied traditions and ways of thinking, now more than ever, we need some common ground to work from, to shift humanity to the next step of awareness which is characterized by respect, responsibility and mutual understanding. Instead, we just keep living in a world of comparing differences …. where each protects themselves from the differences in worldview of the “other guy”. This seems to be the preferred way for human beings.
After all these years, and after all the wonderful teachers our world has given us, we still seem to have no common ethical ground or standard which might be pointed to that says “this is how we ALL operate as humans”.
Every group…. every country…. has its teeth set against other countries, and control and retribution has become the standard of the game. How are we letting this way of doing things define us as human beings?
Yet our religions and law systems and ethical views all carry within them the kernel of truth which can resolve this tug-of-war we are in.
If humanity is to come together as brothers and sisters, there needs to be a central post that all can point to, and say:
“This is our commonality”
“This is something we all agree upon”
“This idea or concept must be considered the highest of our beliefs about how all humans should treat each other”
“This is the standard by which we measure all decisions we make both personally and as groups”
When all is said and done, there must be something we can all agree upon as human beings, that might lead to a better level of treatment of our fellow man.
What if that common “ethic” were simply :
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.
What if this were considered the “highest standard ethical rule”, and all questions of rights and wrongs, all beliefs, all ideologies, were required be interpreted and measured using this highest law?
The first question that comes to mind is: is there enough wiggle room in this particular ethic for humans to find an excuse or justification to still do harm to another human? Could it be that if this standard was truly applied and taught to all our children, that we might come to a point within a few generations, where all living humans would at least agree that this was a base for our treatment of others?
Why is it, that after all these tens of thousands of years, we are still looking for excuses and justifications for our actions, to abuse, to manipulate, to hurt, to harm, to control, to minimalize, our fellow human beings?
Isn’t it time that we called our lawmakers to task for building laws based on retribution and on “what has been done in the past”?
On the one hand, this is a very naive way of looking at the world, but on the other hand, isn’t some standard like this the very way we might bring humanity past having rules based on ownership and selfishness, anger and retribution? Isn’t this the way to bring humanity past the emotional reaction of hurt and retribution which is the basis of law?
There isn’t even a standard left anymore that says “if someone hurts you, treat them the way you would like to have people treat you”……. the rule of thumb now has become “pay them back”. Even our leaders use this type of rationale daily.
But if retribution was no longer seen as the answer to being wronged, then wouldn’t a person need to learn proper way to respond to difficult situations?
I do believe it is high time to open this type of discussion, and push for a basic change.
Other thoughts on the subject:
Couldn’t this ethical standard also relate to the way we treat the environment?
What if we extended this ethical treatment to the environment? to animals?
In fact, folks already know this.
But what if it were made as the basis for law? for business? for relationships…..
There is still room for punishment of wrongdoing…… that would not allow all sorts of golden tongue lawyers, or emotional a basis for decision making……
We are all responsible, and we need to stop making excuses for ourselves!
If religious beliefs were to be subservient to this ethic, and no words in their scriptures could be used.. or misused, to treat a fellow human badly…. or in a way that we ourselves would not be willing to, couldn’t this be a first step towards humans treating humans with dignity, and not as objects or chattels?
It seems like the Christina nations and the Muslim nations have come down to “tit for tat” and vengeance as the standard for action……….. and even the Hindu countries and Buddhist countries are being pulled into this black hole!
Time for a new alternative!
Reality is Dharma 