"Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you" is the best-known version of a rule that a Canadian missionary christened as the Golden Rule because, with a few variations, it exists in every religion on our planet. I will mention a few:
Hinduism - This is the supreme duty: do not do to others what could cause pain if it were done to you. Mahabharata 5:1517
Buddhism – In dealing with others, do not use ways that would be painful to you. The Buddha, Udana-Varga 5.1
Confucianism - A word that sums up the basis of all good conduct: kindness. Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you. Confucius Analects 15:23
Judaism - What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole Torah; everything else is commentary. Go and learn it. Rabbi Hillel Talmud, 31
Islam - Do not consider yourself a believer until you wish for others what you wish for yourself. Prophet Muhammad, 13 of Nawawi Hadiths 40
Christianity - In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you; this is the law and the prophets. Matthew 7:12
By formulating the Golden Rule in the negative, these religions only tell us what we should avoid; Christianity, on the other hand, in expressing it in its positive form tells us what we should do. Although the Islamic formulation is also positive (which may be due to the undeniable Christian influence on this religion, born 600 years after Christ), it expresses a desire and does not command an action. It therefore does not go beyond the level of good intentions...
What makes me good is not my effort to avoid evil, but my effort to do good. While negative formulations and the expression of a desire leave me in the "dolce fare niente", the Christian formulation, the commandment of Christ, takes me out of my passivity, my inertia, my laziness or my comfort zone, making me an activist for justice and peace.
Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC
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