Justice, Robin, Fireside

The Golden Rule and Justice

First Robin of Spring

Letter to the Editor

By John Taylor; 2007 Apr 01

 

 The Golden Rule and Justice

 Last time we looked at how Plato identified the Golden Rule with our innate sense what is ours, the loss we feel when something we own is appropriated. Even a small child (especially a small child) feels very bad when others take what is his or hers, and as often as not the anger is out of all proportion to the value of the object stolen. So, to follow the GR is to treat the property of others with the greatest consideration. Since one of Plato's definitions of justice is "knowing what is yours," Plato's contribution to the GR is the realization that it has as much to do with justice as friendship and personal morality, the "classic" aspects that Socrates and Aristotle had emphasized. This "property Golden Rule" of Plato reminded me of the emphasis that Baha'u'llah gives to a sense of propriety in His Most Holy Book,

"Take heed that ye enter no house in the absence of its owner, except with his permission. Comport yourselves with propriety under all conditions, and be not numbered with the wayward." (Baha'u'llah, Aqdas, paragraph 145, p. 72)

To cease to comport oneself with propriety, Baha'u'llah implies, would be to wander off the path of right and enter into waywardness and injustice.

Another excellent advantage of the Golden Rule over its alternatives is that it is an aphorism, short, sweet, and easily comprehended by all, including very small children. There is no need to get a PhD in moral philosophy to know ethics and act morally, you just have to understand and apply the GR. There is no need to become a professor in a faculty of law in order to grasp that the GR is inherent to justice. Just think of how others feel like you and that usually points out the right way to act. This advantage of the Rule was noticed by Thomas Hobbes,

"And though this may seem too subtle a deduction of the laws of Nature to be taken notice of by all men; whereof the most part are too busy in getting food, and the rest too negligent to understand; yet to leave all men inexcusable, they have been contracted into one easy sum, intelligible even to the meanest capacity; and that is, Do not that to another, which thou wouldst not have done to thyself; which sheweth him, that he has no more to do in learning the laws of nature, but, when weighing the actions of other men with his own they seem too heavy, to put them into the other part of the balance, and his own into their place, that his own passions, and self-love, may add nothing to the weight; and then there is none of these laws of Nature that will not appear unto him very reasonable." (Thomas Hobbes, in Meldon, Ethical Issues, p. 230)

The aphoristic quality of the GR allows us all to be equally responsible for our actions, even those with the least time to spend splitting hairs and pondering the subtleties of moral dilemmas.

 

First Robin of Spring

 

Marie is at choir practice with the Voices of Unity today and I have the kids all to myself. They played an April Fool's trick on me, pretending that the rabbit cage was empty and Twitchy had disappeared. I told them to think of an innocuous trick to play on Grampa. They did, then he in return pretended that he had seen the first robin of spring. Grampa is getting forgetful these days; seven-year-old Thomas immediately pointed out that the robins have been around for weeks. Chalk one up for the gas chamber effect. Indeed, I remember in my young days my mother often coming in of an April Fools Day morning and pretending that she had just seen the first robin. In those cold times the idea of a robin so early seemed absurd but now our spring has sprung long ago. This year, like every year it seems, is the hottest year in recorded history. God save us all.

 

Letter to the Editor

 

Our Baha’i community publicizes its monthly fireside with a letter to the editor. Thanks to Betty Frost and her ability to make friends with the various editors we have had through the years at our local paper, we probably get more publicity than any other community in Canada. Here is this month’s notice of the fireside…

 

To the Editor,

Next Tuesday, April 10^th, we have great pleasure in inviting you to attend a talk in the Garfield Disher Room of Dunnville’s Library at 8:00 p.m.  The speaker for this occasion is Pat Cameron from Hamilton who has made an extensive study on the subject - “Can Marriage be a Lasting Relationship?”

Although one evening does not provide enough time for an in-depth presentation which would include aspects of virtue, she has chosen the subject of “Consultation” as a means of preserving marriages, since it is the most powerful tool that has been given to us by Baha’u’llah (Founder of the Baha’i Faith) and the guidance most needed by humanity to bring about justice and unity.

 In utilizing consultation as a skill and technique for preserving and sustaining healthy marriage, she will pose a number of questions. What is consultation, really? How do you do it? How do you know if it is working? What makes it different from a discussion, or an argument, or just chatting? How can we get better at consulting so that we have fewer arguments and make more decisions? Does someone always have to give in to the other? Marriage can be about eternal union and blissful intimate friendship, but if the communication breaks down between the partners it can come apart at the seams. What can be done to learn the skills of consultation so that marriage can be the happy union that we all yearn to enjoy?

Your own questions and comments will be most welcome. We very much look forward to seeing you and sharing not only some interesting thoughts on this most important topic, but some socializing over tea/coffee/goodies.

Betty Frost

Haldimand Baha’i Community

 

Around Town

Tuesday, April 10

“Can Marriage be a Lasting Relationship” is the subject being presented by the Baha’i Community of Haldimand at 8:00 p.m. in the Garfield Disher Room. All are invited to attend and to hear some very interesting insights into this important topic.