The Golden Rule

I must say that I find Karen Armstrong’s notion of spirituality devoid of doctrinal or dogmatic expression is very attractive. The idea of finding common ground between faiths is also attractive. And there have been attempts in the past to find that common ground, but most of them have come to nothing.

One of the greatest stories, retold by Karen Armstrong, concerns the great first century CE Rabbi Hillel:

“A group of pagans approached Rabbi Hillel and told him that they would convert to his faith if he could recite the whole of Jewish teaching while standing on one leg. So Hillel obligingly stood on one leg like a stork and said, ‘Do not do unto others what you would not have done unto you. That is the Torah. The rest is commentary. Go and learn it.’”

Jesus of course said “Do unto others as you have done unto you” but the meaning is the same. The Qu'ran imposes no creed and does not bother with doctrine, in fact, is dismissive of theolgoical speculation. Eastern faiths, especially Buddhism, spend more time on how a person lives, rather than what a person believes. Here, in conversations here with members of our local Wiccan community, I have been reminded more than once of their own version of the Golden Rule; “Save that thou harm none, do what thou wilt”.

As I approach the end of reading “The Spiral Staircase”, the implications of following this Rule, and the implications for people of faith in finding the common ground of this Rule, are both exciting and challenging.