Whether a tenet of religion or cornerstone of a system of ethics, is the statement “Love one another” not a watershed concept? It seems to me that if the spirit of this statement is applied to human interaction then much if not all strife between us disappears. Regardless the embellishments, situational definitions, blah blah blah…, if the intent matches this statement, we have a good thing.
I realize it is re-inventing the wheel, but if this were the starting point of a system of ethical behavior, where would we go from here?
Well, perhaps we should make some kind of standard of behaviour indicating what ‘loving your neighbour’ actually means and how it could be implemented before we jump the gun.
That’s a great idea! I don’t plan on loving anybody until I’ve got some notion of what that means. It would be nice if we had some sort of general explanation of what the “perfect world” would/should look like. I’m sure the details would work themselves out once we described the ideal.
zanderman,
“Respect, Trust, Honesty, Patience.” Yes, these are qualities that definitely belong. It seems to me that we probably need to provide a word definition and perhaps examples of both what is and what isn’t each of these qualities so that, individuals would know in fairly precise ways whether their behavior was within the ethical system.
Are there any religious concepts that could be included in the construction of this ethical behavior system without being ‘religious’?
How about we begin by treating everyone the way we would like to be treated. I can’t think of anyone in their “right” mind that wants to be treated badly!
I think, “Love one another” comes in the context of its just being a guide in life. If there was no hatred or animosity anywhere, life would not be life anymore and would cease to exist altogether. Jeez! Does that mean that the way life goes is perhaps the best way? You know how Einstein said that it’s a good thing that even though stupidity is infinite but genius isn’t? It comes in the context that if genius were to make a mistake think of what a blunder that would be if it were infinite. Now in my eyes, genius has to be infinite or we would know every single thing about the universe and life, right? I started thinking that perhaps this universal mind being infinitely genius made a blunder somewhere which is why life is the way it is.
But your phrase, “Love one another,” my goodness, if that ever happened to come true totally then life would not be interesting anymore because love would cease to have meaning. So does that mean that this universal mind did not make any blunders at all? Where there should be moderation in everything everywhere, extremes once in a while are a necessary evil? And whenever things start getting out of hand, God sends messengers on earth. Guys, oh! My goodness! The mind of God, I’ll never understand. I don’t have to.
Do you know what that means guys? It means that we should just have some basic philosophy in life, live by it and some principles together with it and essentially live responsibly. After that, “Whatever happens, happens for the best.” Your mom and my mom was ALWAYS right!
Guys, I don’t know about you but I for one am NOT going to worry about anything in life from now on. And it’s all thanks to you tentative!
Hey! tentative, man! That’s a brilliant query of yours, do you know that?
Jeeze, just when I think I have a good answer you smart guys come along and throw some philosophy into the equation and then I have to ponder what it was I was thinking in the first place.
It’s Friday. I think I’ll go home and watch the hurricane and have a beer!
rob_9942,
Yes, I’ve read a little of the ‘ethic of caring’ material and there certainly could be some of it included here. The same could be said of materials from secular humanism as well as a half dozen other sources, but let’s re-invent the wheel anyway. We need an ILP Religion forum declaration of ‘How shall we live’? It’s inevitable that we will borrow or steal ideas from other sources, although we might want to give points for original thought, even though that leave’s me at considerable disadvantage. Any other sources you can think of?
Jub JubAre you suggesting Golden Rule behavior? Nice place to start since every major religion espouses some form of that statement.
BeenaJain
I don’t think we have to worry about everyone practicing ‘love one another’. Of course, that doesn’t keep us from building a blueprint that would make it possible. You mention “having some basic philosophy in life”. That’s what this thread is about, and, begin at the beginning…
Perhaps the notion of ‘Do unto others…’ the whole golden rule.
Also the concepts of respect, trust, honesty and patience…trust can be a scary prospect, people each have their own take on respect, honesty sometimes isn’t the best policy, and is patience even possible in this world today? They are all great in theory, but are they possible? Wouldn’t various combinations infringe on the other? Like say, what if honesty was to interfere with respecting another. They say if you say the truth tactfully you can still show respect to that person, but that does not always pass with some people.
The problem is that to some the mere existence of one way of life offends them. This is bringing in the concept of world peace, and in a world of different beliefs and personalities is that possible?
I can certainly understand your skepticism, I have it too. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be a worthy exercise to see what we can produce. At least part of this would be to find the ideals or qualities that the diversity of cultures agree upon and look for the ways to avoid emphasizing our differences.
That’s part of love and the Golden rule. Looking for a piece of yourself in the other person. I guess that would come under respect. Recognizing that other people are their own persons and not trying to change them.
The virtues do fight amongst each other. Value conflicts are what religion and ethics are all about. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. About what would happen if we were to achieve the goals of love and equality, and it seems to me that love and equality only attain grandeur when viewed with their opposites as a background.
There are some people, like me, who can be face to face with someone with complete and opposite beliefs and still be able to have a conversation. Most of my friends are people who are completely different from me in every aspect, because I love learning from them. Why they chose this path, how they started to believe in whatever beliefs seperate us, why they will never change these beliefs…
I think the one thing we need for tolerance in each other is curiosity and willingness to learn. Instead of just saying ‘this is truth, you are wrong’ say ‘this is truth, why do you feel otherwise’. We may never agree but at least there is a running dialouge instead of hatred or violence over an issue. Is this a form of respect…I suppose. But more centered around people’s tendency to be overly curious. Once again knowledge is the answer.
