Golden Rule Silver Rule Iron Rule
When the man lay wounded and unable to help himself, a Jewish priest passed by, and later a Levite (the one who served priests during temple ceremonies). The two, probably horrified by the bloody scene, crossed the opposite side of the street and accelerated their steps. Their respective thoughts were undoubtedly «This tragedy was not my fault. It`s none of my business, etc.» They did not kick oppressed Jews; They did not pierce his pockets. They just kept going. They were men with the silver rule. We have described in detail the list of rationalizations above because they are a great example of the logic of the silver rule! Even some enemies of Christianity have paid tribute to the value of the Golden Rule. John Stuart Mill wrote: «To do what one would do, and to love one`s neighbor as oneself, represents the ideal perfection of utilitarian morality. Thomas Paine declared: «The duty of man. is clear and simple and has only two points: his duty to God, which every man must feel, and to his neighbor to do what he wants to do» (quoted in Mead 1965, 192, 193).
Military leaders found the iron rule very convenient. Alexander the Great, known as the greatest military leader of all time, is an excellent example. In the space of twelve years, he conquered the ancient world from Macedonia to India. The money rule would prohibit you from stealing your neighbor`s purse – because it`s detestable to you. On the other hand, if you find a wallet with $ 200 in the parking lot of the mall, the rule of money is silent. In fact, this leaves you with the option: «Finder keepers, losers cry». Most likely an undeclared atheist, Machiavelli was troubled by the fact that most people in the 16th century lived by the immorality of the time, even if they embraced Christian principles. The commandment to do to others. I have to kill you before you kill me. As the Italians of his time were morally weak, cowardly or poor, the traditional rules had to be changed. Machiavelli`s prince was a realist who had to work with the existing situation. It`s comparable to the motto of political pragmatism, if it works, do it! It seemed pointless to him to insist that people are just good and things are getting better.
While the new prince must be personally decent and principled, he must never allow his principles to stand in the way of the evil he must do to preserve himself and his rule. This is what many in the United States call practical atheism. Famous thinkers and critics such as the writer George Bernard Shaw have publicly criticized the rules of gold and silver for their oversimplified nature and somewhat problematic implications. Critics are dissatisfied with the second part of the rules on gold and silver, which seem to assume that everyone can know exactly how others are treated and how they are not. As Shaw says in Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy, «Don`t treat others like you would, they would you. Their tastes may not be the same. One of the great dilemmas of human existence is how to live in a world where the iron rule is in force and the rules of gold and silver have been marginalized. To reject a society modeled on an Italian atheist rather than the Son of God, each of us must follow Jesus` unsavory example on the road to Calvary. As Bishop Fulton J. Sheen pointed out in his Life of Christ, there can be no Easter without Good Friday. Moreover, some see the conjunction oun («therefore») as a link of the Golden Rule with what has just been said.
In particular, «we are to imitate the divine goodness mentioned in verse 11» (Bengel 1877, 204). The Golden Rule is a basic moral instruction that is usually formulated as follows: «Treat others as you want them to do unto you.» Many similar variations of this phrase are used. Most interpret this rule to mean that people should treat others with the kindness, respect, and consideration that most people expect from themselves. The Golden Rule is the fundamental basis of many human rights philosophies and is associated with many world religions. Many claim to live by the Golden Rule as Jesus taught them. Some even go so far as to believe that if they live by the maxim, «Treat others as you want them to do to you,» that is enough in God`s eyes, regardless of what else there may be in their lives. This is simply not true, but many problems will be solved and many sins will be avoided if one lives by this rule. We must be willing to forgive those who sin against us and sin against us.
What a wonderful, rich and sublime life it really is if we strive to live by the Golden Rule. Jesus calls us out of a life of the Iron Rule. He calls us far beyond a life lived according to the Rule of Money. If we want to follow Jesus, we must, like him, make this third and highest rule, the golden rule, the rule of our life.