I'm An Atheist Who Follows the Golden Rule

[Acim]

It's simply a basic ideal that transcends religion.

I find this assertion fascinating. Especially in its chosen wording.

 

[YmirGF]

I find this assertion fascinating. Especially in its chosen wording.

I suppose I put it that way simply because it is such a basic truth about inter-personal relationships. Treat others the way you want to be treated. My assumption is that this concept predated written history as it would have been apparent to the average garden gnome from early on.

Think about it, even Ronald the cave dude would have realized that if he forcibly took Betty-Boo the cave babe from Henry the cave dude, Henry would be pissed off and would seek retribution. It's not rocket science.

 

[Acim]

I suppose I put it that way simply because it is such a basic truth about inter-personal relationships. Treat others the way you want to be treated. My assumption is that this concept predated written history as it would have been apparent to the average garden gnome from early on.

I could see that.

As noted before, I see the Rule as not plausible to violate. Thus, it would make sense that before written history, the Rule was in full effect. Kinda like gravity was around before we understood it in a scientific and mathematical way.

 

[Grumpuss]

One of my favourite Dr Seuss books is Green Eggs and Ham. Are there stereotypes in this children's classic that are hateful?

Not that I can think of- it promotes the consumption of pork, which isn't kosher with most Jews and Muslims, I guess.

I enjoyed Dr. Seuss as a child too. That's why I was horrified to learn later in life of his racist Asian and African caricatures.

 

[Marsh]

Yet the Golden Rule was introduced to the world by Jesus (He is King)

Sorry Grumpus, the Golden Rule was not stated first by Christ. I am sure others have pointed this mistake out to you by now. Check the link below to learn a bit about the history of the saying, if you are interested.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule

 

[Marsh]

Not that I can think of- it promotes the consumption of pork, which isn't kosher with most Jews and Muslims, I guess.

I enjoyed Dr. Seuss as a child too. That's why I was horrified to learn later in life of his racist Asian and African caricatures.

If you read the Dr Seuss books as a child and enjoyed them, then maybe he is not so racist as you've been told. Let's face up to the truth: there are those who see racism everywhere, even when it doesn't exist.

 

[El Conquistador]

If you read the Dr Seuss books as a child and enjoyed them, then maybe he is not so racist as you've been told. Let's face up to the truth: there are those who see racism everywhere, even when it doesn't exist.

Try googling 'Dr Seuss is a racist' and see what you come up with. Granted, he did it during a time when being anti-Asian was not exactly uncommon in the United States, but he was still responsible for it. If you look at those cartoons and don't see racism, I don't know what to tell you.

 

[Marsh]

Try googling 'Dr Seuss is a racist' and see what you come up with. Granted, he did it during a time when being anti-Asian was not exactly uncommon in the United States, but he was still responsible for it. If you look at those cartoons and don't see racism, I don't know what to tell you.

Thank, I'll follow your recommendation.

 

[Frank Merton]

“do unto others as you would have them do unto you”

How could it possibly be wrong to do others as you'd wish to be done? It's simply a basic ideal that transcends religion. My guess is that it was an old aphorism that predated Biblical times and was included because it was so patently obvious. As a born again atheist, I have no problem living by the "golden rule". It's far from ironic. It's simply pragmatic.

Yes there is a pragmatic aspect. The car salesman takes me to lunch and I am more likely to buy. It doesn't always work and strikes me as sometimes unethical -- doing what is right for a reward rather than doing what is right because it is right. Do you think ethical behavior evolved as a survival benefit or is there something deeper or more complicated?

 

[Frank Merton]

Try googling 'Dr Seuss is a racist' and see what you come up with. Granted, he did it during a time when being anti-Asian was not exactly uncommon in the United States, but he was still responsible for it. If you look at those cartoons and don't see racism, I don't know what to tell you.

We should not judge others because of the culture they came out of, any more than we want to be judged because of things we may do that later generations will condemn. Isaac Newton spent more time seeking the philosopher's stone than he did studying gravity.

 

[Acim]

Dr. Seuss (allegedly) racist caricatures make me scratch my head and think of the times I've seen non-racist / non-offensive cartoons. I think I can count that on one hand. Maybe one finger.

 

[Smart_Guy]

I think it's perfectly normal. I believe atheism is not really an ideology or a belief system by default, so atheists following the Golden Rule is nothing special really.

AH, I actually do not know what the Golden Rule is. I'll search.

 

[Frank Merton]

I think, but I would love to be shown otherwise, that the Golden Rule ("Do to others as you would have them do to you.") is generally a good guide but there are exceptions. Even "Do not commit murder" has exceptions. Fortunately most of us get through life not having to worry much about the exceptions as they only happen in unusual, usually far-fetched, scenarios.

 

[ArtieE]

Yes there is a pragmatic aspect. The car salesman takes me to lunch and I am more likely to buy. It doesn't always work and strikes me as sometimes unethical -- doing what is right for a reward rather than doing what is right because it is right. Do you think ethical behavior evolved as a survival benefit or is there something deeper or more complicated?

The car salesman probably generally increases his number of sales by taking potential customers out to lunch thereby increasing his chances of staying a car salesman and earning more money hence increasing his chances of survival. Increased chances of survival is his reward. I follow the Golden Rule because it benefits everybody including myself gods or no gods.

 

[ArtieE]

I think, but I would love to be shown otherwise, that the Golden Rule ("Do to others as you would have them do to you.") is generally a good guide but there are exceptions. Even "Do not commit murder" has exceptions.

Murder is always wrong. You are probably thinking of "do not kill".

 

[Frank Merton]

The car salesman probably generally increases his number of sales by taking potential customers out to lunch thereby increasing his chances of staying a car salesman and earning more money hence increasing his chances of survival. Increased chances of survival is his reward. I follow the Golden Rule because it benefits everybody including myself gods or no gods.

Well, yes, duh.

 

[Frank Merton]

Murder is always wrong. You are probably thinking of "do not kill".

I think had I the opportunity to murder Pol Pot early on it would be wrong for me not to do so.

 

[Augustus]

Granted, he did it during a time when being anti-Asian was not exactly uncommon in the United States, but he was still responsible for it. If you look at those cartoons and don't see racism, I don't know what to tell you.

Judging WW2 propaganda by the standards of 2016 political correctness is a bit silly though.

All of this "OMG [historical figure] was a racist! Let's tarnish his/her legacy" is just self-righteous nonsense. Practically everybody was racist/sexist/homophobic/etc. by today's standards. It's a bit like saying "everybody in history sucks, except us."

The racially stereotyped cartoons say far more about the era, than the individual. It's not sensationalist clickbait to say 'people in the 1940s were less PC than they are today'; 'Dr Seuss was a racist!!' is better headline fodder. Tabloid style journalism has never been noted for its contribution to human knowledge and understanding though.

People like to think that if they were alive back then that they would have been 'special' and would have exactly the same sensitivities that they do now. Most people would just be normal though, and normal did not meet 2016 PC sensibilities.

In 50 years time people will look back at us and be shocked at what we thought was acceptable too.

 

[ArtieE]

I think had I the opportunity to murder Pol Pot early on it would be wrong for me not to do so.

Then it wouldn't be murder but justified homicide.

 

[Frank Merton]

Then it wouldn't be murder but justified homicide.

As far as I'm concerned, any taking of life, except in defense of one's country as part of its armed forces, is murder. You can play games with words; my view is that every moral rule has exceptions. Whether you want to word the exception as something else is just semantics.