The Golden Rule of Democracy

by Paul R. Lehto

Reflecting on our noble and flawed history, and also reflecting on the present "debate" on "separation" of church and state has led me to realize that America is founded upon deeply and broadly shared, even universally shared, principles and spiritual insights, the most fundamental of which is the Golden Rule. I'd like to introduce you all to what I call "The Golden Rule of Democracy" -- to be used as a guidestar for what is truly in the spirit of our American Revolutionary War and what is not.

The formulation of the classic Golden Rule (found in various forms in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, Hinduism, Taoism, and many other spiritual traditions) can be stated as follows:



(NOTE: if you'd like the formulation of the Golden Rule for another tradition, PM me as I may already have it and can give it to you, or if you have one PM and send it to me!)

The Golden Rule is even solidly based in completely "rational" secular philosophy. For example, starting from the self-evident proposition that we ALL think our own lives have some significance or importance as evidenced by our continual attempts to stay alive and/or prosper, legal philosopher Ronald Dworkin writes in "Law's Empire:"



This, too, is a philosophical basis for the Golden Rule, as well as the equality principle. Thus, regardless of whether one considers oneself a believer in any faith tradition or not, the Golden Rule's application is inclusive of ALL. In fact, especially for faith believers, they must by definition treat ALL as they would wish themselves treated, so the spiritual content of this post need not make atheists fear for their rights or freedom of thought.

Now, please examine below some of what I assert are hundreds of examples of important principles and quotes in American history that can be understood as practical applications of the Golden Rule, thus creating the overarching term I believe I'm coining (in the sense I use it here) of "The Golden Rule of Democracy:"



Note, that from the above we see the equality principle as the basis for TRUE democracy. The reciprocity, or the "do unto others" principle is in the quote very clearly.

In the interest of not bouncing around too much and, instead of that, showing some of the depth of penetration of the Golden Rule into American history and principles, I'll mostly stick with Lincoln quotes here. How about this:



As applied the Golden Rule of Democracy has a bit of a sword to it as well, at least the sword of wit, which Lincoln certainly had:



and, it is applied to ALL LAWS:



THIS PARAGRAPH FOR THOSE WHO THINK AMERICAN HISTORY "TOO FLAWED": Too many people get sidetracked by others' violations of core American principles, but for now, since the messenger does not and can not discredit or make "impure" the principle (though you, dear reader, might be fooled into this state) I'm ignoring for reasons of length all the "hypocrisy" attacks on core American principles. I'll only add the very important fact that, since the Founders of this country consciously intended and wrote that they were fighting for the freedom of all humanity, and for all posterity (i.e. for "all time") they NECESSARILY had to set forth principles that were not achieved or achievable during THEIR TIME. So yes, some held slaves, but they were from young age to old age trying to rid the country of the whole system. At the end of the Revolutionary War the country was armed to the teeth, and it ultimately took 650,000 American dead to settle the slavery question. to expect it to be magically settled around the time of 1776 of the 1789 Constitution is, to say the least, asking quite a bit. In defense of Jefferson in particular, he was in deep debt lifelong due to public service, and if you think you can let your major "property" go free or sell it without paying off the banks and without their consent, you are in for a surprise my friend -- it is the workers (slaves) who make all the money in an enterprise so no bank was going to allow Jefferson to follow his principles, the slaves being far more valuable for years of work than sold as chattel slaves.)

Finally, though, one reason we get so confused about church and state issues is that there's lots of evidence that this is a SPIRITUAL NATION, but some want to make it a specifically Christian nation -- a thing FOunders wanted to avoid in the interests of both avoiding sectarian warfare, as well as making the churches free of the government...

It also follows, as a "negative corollary", that



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In any event, I could, and am, writing a book on the Golden Rule of Democracy, so I had better stop here. Just ya'll to know that this is a very rich vein of analysis, and perhaps some of you can ask questions, add quotes, or otherwise respond with pointers or even critiques that may help clarify the thinking here. Feel free to post your thoughts, even if you don't consider them fully developed. I'm interested in any responses, by PM or via reply below. THanks.

As essentially a "secular humanist", the Golden Rule underlying ALL religious/ethical systems is a concept I frequently comment on. You've given me even more to work with.

K & R

pnorman

"All I ask is equal freedom. When it is denied, as it always is, I take it anyhow." H.L. Mencken

"Freedom is the right to one's dignity as a man." - Unknown

"I know of but one freedom and that is the freedom of the mind." Antoine de Sainte Exupery

"Freedom cannot be granted. It must be taken." Max Sterner

"Freedom is the absolute right of all adult men and women to seek permission for their actions only from their own conscience and reason, and to be determined in their actions only by their own will, and consequently to be responsible only to themselves, and then to the society to which they belong, but only insofar as they have made a free decision to belong to it." Mikhail Bakunin

“The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.”
Marie Beyle

“Freedom for supporters of the government only, for members of one party only, no matter how big its membership may be is, no freedom at all. Freedom is always freedom for the man who thinks differently. “
Rosa Luxemburg

"I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all." --Thomas Jefferson to Francis Hopkinson, 1789.

"Were parties here divided merely by a greediness for office,...to take a part with either would be unworthy of a reasonable or moral man." --Thomas Jefferson to William Branch Giles, 1795.

“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." --John Quincy Adams

Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.
Thomas Paine

I especially like this one: “The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.”
Marie Beyle

that may be partially the sources of a quote or two above:

"The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's throat, for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as a liberator, while the wolf denounces him as a destroyer of liberty." Benjamin Franklin

"We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others, the same word many mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name - liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names - liberty and tyranny." Abraham Lincoln

If anyone perceives a conundrum in the above Lincoln and Franklin quotes, it didn’t confuse Lincoln, for he knew Jefferson and Paine quite well, and Jefferson always explained that

“liberty ends where someone else’s rights begin” (from memory, close paraphrase)

"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." Johann Wolfgang Goethe

when you get it finished. I've been thinking along the same lines for a long time, especially the past couple of weeks. I'm pretty sure the Sarah Palin phenomenon was the catalyst. A confrontation on another forum with a "believer" who actually defended Palin, the New Apostolic Revival and the witch hunter Thomas Muthee has forced me to further clarify my beliefs. It would probably be more accurate to say it has forced me to harden and polarize them, to realize it's impossible to avoid taking sides. Right before I put the offender on Ignore (something I should have done years ago) I went on a little bit of a rant and told him and everyone who may have been lurking that American society was divided into Believers and Humanists, and that I was firmly on the side of the Humanists and the Enlightenment. This is the only possible "American" position, seeing as the Constitution is based on these same principles or ideals.

Re "As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the differences, is no democracy."

The principle of equality, or reciprocity, or the Golden Rule--has to come first, even above the idea of God, regardless of whether you believe in God or not. If not, there is always the danger of falling into a "morality" or set of definitions of good and evil that are essentially arbitrary, with no real content or objective basis.

I do feel a little bit self-conscious discussing this on a big forum like DU because I don't consider my thoughts fully developed. The other forum is smaller and the regulars have known me for years, so I felt less inhibited about letting my hair down. But you asked for feedback, so I wanted to let you know I'm VERY interested in this particular topic.

I've always considered DU to be an informal place to workshop ideas -- at least if the OP is custom-written for this forum and not a polished piece from somewhere else.... In fact, that's the very point at the end of the OP above is to invite comments to assist a work in progress -- and even the commenter of course may well be doing the same as they comment.

"You can't plough a field in your mind" -- so actually speaking your tentative thoughts out loud can help in formulating them further..

Let us know when the book comes out. Thanks.

when it comes out. In his "Preemptive Strike" philosophy, the Golden Rule has, of course been bastardized: "Do unto others before they do unto you." To which I add the unspoken: "Then wrap yourself up in a flag and blame the others."

one of the main points of principles is the correction of wrong behavior. You did a fine job of doing that. Probably not wise for me to set out with the goal of getting W to read it, and I think it unnecessary as well. (W is enabled by millions and millions activing ignoring the principles they'd be forced to agree with if it were pointed out to them)

(though if he read and understood and followed it, it certainly would be a good thing)

I'm not even all that sure that W reads all that well. "The Pet Goat" sure seemed to stump him. At any rate, it seems that our political philosophies are closely matched, and I approve your message.

Nice to have have a friend. I would absolutely NOT want the job of trying to get W to read ANYTHING, and the thought of that overcame me! ;)

torture the torturers? Is this a point of inflection at which "do unto others" becomes "an eye for an eye"?

Anyway, thanks for this Paul. It is good food for thought, laid out well. I always admire your knowledge of historical figures and quotes, though I'm not so sure you coined the phrase "The Golden Rule of Democracy." The Google.

to see in what ways it had been used previously, after the phrase occurred to me. But nobody owns the phrase, and if others thought of it independently and prior, then I thank the stars for that and would/will congratulate them.

and no, violence is not literally meant, rather, because one would not wish oneself tortured, therefore one does not torture others....

DON'T do to others what you wouldn't want done to you.

Rav Hillel summed it up: "What is hateful to you, do not do to another. That is the whole of the law; all else is commentary".


GBS phrased it rather wittily: don't do to another as you would have him do to you, his tastes might be entirely different.

The OP, of course, speaks of the golden rule of democracy, as understood by Americans. Here's arguably one of the seeds of feminism and women's suffrage, (given her other famous quotes) and note that it is not phrased "negatively", showing that it is not UNDERSTOOD in our culture as a purely negative command:



I'll leave more "positive" citations for later, I'd like to see the backup for yours. I don't deny that there are variations of the rule, and that some are formed in a "negative" formulation, and there are some variations in scope of the Rule. But in the end, that is not by any means fatal or extremely problematic.

Christianity (NT), Judaism, Hinduism don't seem negative to me:

Gospel of John: " "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; As I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." .

Leviticus 19:18- "Thou shalt Love thy neighbor as thyself."

Hinduism: 3200 BC, From the Hitopadesa- "One should always treat others as they themselves wish to be treated."

My source is George Seldes, "The Great Quotations". He cites Matthew, Talmud, Mahabharata (Brahman), Udana-Varga (Buddhism), Analects (Confucianism), T'ai Shan Kan Ying P'ien (Daoism), Dadidstan-i-dinik (Zoroastrianism), and the Hadith (Islam)

:yourock:

but explaining precisely how would be the most interesting thing