Tag: love

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The Golden Rule: Can Religions Work Together?

“I’d been reading up on comparative religion. The thing is that all major religions have the Golden Rule in Common. ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ Not always the same words but the same meaning.”

— Norman Rockwell

The concept of the “Golden Rule” is taught in all major world religions. It is a statement, in summary, of the basic requirements for all human behavior. While the sentiment may be expressed in different ways, the message is the same: treat others the way you would want to be treated. The concept may seem simple enough, but oftentimes, it appears to be easier said than done. Although the Golden Rule is a fundamental obligation in all religions, as Blaise Pascal put it, “[m]en never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.” This week, we’ll be thinking about whether or not truly adopting the Golden Rule can allow people from different religious backgrounds and beliefs to work together to make the world a better place.

Studies have shown that religion can have a positive influence on many aspects of society, and throughout human history, nations have made religion a part of their governmental systems. For example, Judaism teaches that when God established Israel as a nation, He gave them a theocracy to help govern them. Currently, 20% of the countries in the world have an established state religion. However, in almost all of the countries where state religions exist, a variety of abuses and atrocities have taken place. Religion has been used to control people rather than to serve them.

That said, it is important to consider how and why something born of pure intentions becomes corrupted. How do we go from the Golden Rule to religion being used as justification for hurting and/or controlling people? Perhaps it is because of some combination of humans being imperfect, ignorance, and self-serving interests that religion can be turned into a curse rather than a blessing. Perhaps it relates back to a person’s perception of God being based more on condemnation and judgment than love. Perhaps religion is seen by many as a means to an end rather than a journey of growth and enlightenment. It’s important for us to ask ourselves what, if anything, we want to accomplish by believing and to assess how that agenda impacts us and the world around us.

If the Golden Rule is fundamental for everyone, is it so impossible that we could find a way to co-exist peacefully in purpose, even if not in belief? If nations or different ideologies wanted to become allies against anything that violated the Golden Rule…the Rule of Love…is it so impossible that they could do it as “equal-but-different” partners? Instead of pushing conformity to one thing over the other, is it possible to learn to accept and respect the fact that there will always be differences? Different people may be pursuing or encouraging different final goals, but why can’t the Golden Rule be the metric by which we gauge how we interact with each other right now? Couldn’t it be possible for everyone to encourage each other to achieve the best that their different traditions require of them while working together to oppose the negative things we can agree on?

The “fish-run principle”, which Zen Buddhists derive from Chuang-Tzu, states: “A fish-run is constructed to catch fish: we should keep the fish and forget the run. A snare is to catch a rabbit: we should keep the rabbit and forget the snare. Words are to transmit meaning: we should keep the meaning and forget the words.” We may not all speak the same languages or come from the same cultures or believe in the same things, but it isn’t impossible for different people to find common ground. If we can agree on things like compassion, love, respect, humility, empathy, and just treating others the way we want to be treated, who knows what kind of impact that collective mission and purpose could have.

What do you think? Is the Golden Rule fundamental? Is it possible for people from different religious backgrounds to work together? What areas of common ground do you think exist? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

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Relationships are like…Group Projects

By Kara M. Young

Do you remember group projects in school? Maybe you’re still in school and you still have to do them. If you’re anything like me, you think group projects are the worst! A project that might have been easy to do on my own would suddenly become complicated with the introduction of another person and the process of figuring out how to split the work. The only saving grace would be if my partner turned out to be someone who was competent, reliable, and who helped make the finished product better than it would have been had I done it on my own. And I think the same concept applies to relationships.

Let’s imagine that life is the project. You’re working on it, getting things done. You have your friends, family, teachers, etc., to help guide you and support you along the way, but the project is ultimately still yours. Then one day, you decide you want a partner…and that’s when it becomes really, really important to understand not only how serious that decision is, but also the purpose and intention that has to go into making it.

Creating an awesome “project” requires time, hard work, vision, and consistency. Once you become an adult, accomplishing your goals, figuring out what you want and where you want to take your life is totally up to you because you’re in charge and the only person you have to worry about (from a romantic standpoint if not from a practical standpoint) is yourself. When you start thinking about taking on a partner, one of the most important questions you’ll want to ask yourself is, “Why?” Do you want a partner because you don’t want to work on your project alone? Do you want a partner because other people have them and it looks like working on your project with someone could be fun? Or do you want a partner because you know who you are, what you want, where you’re going, and you’ve found someone who pushes you to better yourself in every way? Do you want a partner because you’ve found someone who is competent, reliable, and who helps make your life better than what you could create on your own?

Asking yourself those questions is important because a good partner is more than feelings or attraction. You can love your best friend and still not want to be partners with your best friend because your best friend is bad at projects. You can think someone is good-looking and still not want to be partners with that person because they’re bad at projects lol. You have to go into looking for a partner really thinking about it as a life partnership rather than something that’s just supposed to feel good or attempts to live up to a fairy tale version of what love is. Further, viewing your relationship as a potential life partnership makes it easier to focus on whether or not a partnership actually works instead of ignoring red flags or glossing over issues because you want to make it work. Why force a partnership that’s not going to produce a great project when you can focus on creating the best project you can unless/until someone comes along who can make you AND your project better?

I’m saying all this to say, you’re awesome. You’re capable. You’re here and you can put in the work to create the life you want for yourself. When you believe in your worth and the value you bring to a partnership, you know that you can’t partner up with just anyone and that’s not a bad thing. It may take some time, but if/when the right person comes along, you’ll see that a “group project” can actually be fun, and the outcome just might end up being better than you could have ever hoped for.

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Does God Exist?

The answer seems obvious, right? If you do believe in God, God’s existence isn’t even a question. And if you don’t believe in God, God’s non-existence isn’t even a question. So how do we figure out what’s true?

Here’s what we know:

  • If there is a God, no one living today has seen God in the same tangible way we can see and interact with each other.
  • No one living today has ventured beyond our solar system, so no one can definitively say what is or is not out there.
  • We’re all limited and we only utilize about 10% of our brainpower, so there’s a lot out there lurking beyond what we’re currently capable of understanding.

That said, understanding the power of believing is a game-changer. To believe something is to “accept [it] as true; feel sure of the truth of.” Believing does not mean that something is, in fact, true. Believing means that you accept and feel sure that something is true, even if you can’t tangibly prove it. So when we ask the question, “Does God exist?”, it’s less about what’s actually true (because that can’t be definitively proven one way or the other) and more about what you believe to be true and why you believe it. Another word for that belief is faith.

The definition of the word “faith” is having “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” When it comes to both believing (and sometimes not believing) in God, faith is a necessary element. However, what is not necessary is unsubstantiated (i.e. blind) faith, and it’s important to know what your faith, or lack thereof, is based on. Evidence-based belief is subjective because the type of evidence that is good enough for one person may not be good enough for someone else, but that’s okay because that’s kind of the point. Your faith or lack of faith in something shouldn’t be based on what’s good enough for someone else. In order to have faith in something, you have to be able to have complete trust in it, and what each of us needs to feel confident in doing that varies. If you know what you believe or what you don’t believe and why, that’s amazing, and we’d love to hear the reasons why you’re so confident. But if you don’t have that confidence, that’s okay, too, because it means you’re thinking and you have questions, which means you’re open to finding the answers you need to nail down what you believe, and that’s what’s most important.

Do you believe in God? Why or why not? What evidence do you base your belief on? Let us know in the comments below!