Posted By David on July 1, 2008

We despise all reverences and all objects of reverence which are outside the pale of our list of sacred things. And yet, with strange inconsistency, we are shocked when other people despise and defile the things which are holy to us. – Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835- 1910)

Is it possible that we’ve made progress since Twain’s day? We often seem to focus on the negative. On the ongoing religious and political strife in various parts of the world and the apparent rise in extremism.

But there’s another side to the story. A side that’s represented by average people doing average things in average places every day. People who live and work together in harmony and good humour, without overdue sensitivity to a “list of sacred things”.

At the same time that extremists make the evening news, old laws are struck down and new laws are passed that make the world, or at least some parts of it, just a little more equal, a little more inclusive, a little more tolerant.

We have a long way to go before the Golden Rule is the guiding principle of our societies and our institutions.

One day soon, may our list of sacred things include just one item – Creation.

Feel free to join the Golden Rule Discussion

Categories: Golden Rule
Tags: Golden Rule