NoFablesPlease

One of the so called ethical principles at the very foundation of Christianity is;

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

This is hardly ethical, in that is egotistical beyond belief.

As an example, let's say I love General Tso's Chicken and it is my favorite of all dishes to eat. I am having a dinner party, wherein a good friend of mine has invited one of their friends, whom we will call her Sally, whom I have never met before, to attend the party.

I cook, I set the table, my guests arrive and dinner is served. As Sally looks at the dish, she asks if it contains soy sauce. I answer in the affirmative. Sally then informs me she can't eat it, because she is allergic to tannins, which soy sauce does contain.

All I did was treat Sally as I wished she would treat me. Since I love General Tso's Chicken and Jesus commanded me to treat Sally as I wish to be treated, I served my favorite dish to Sally.

Had I not listened to Jesus and made the very egotistical assumption that Sally would like whatever I liked, had I instead asked Sally what her preferences were, rather than assuming I should treat her as I would like her to treat me, this entire situation would have been avoided.

In other words, everyone in the world is not like me, therefore it is both foolish and egotistical to treat everyone in the world as if they were like me, since I do not represent all people and the majority of people on the earth aren't like me at all.

Therefore, it is far more ethical to ask others how they wish to be treated, than to assume they wish to be treated as I would like to be treated.

SaguaroJen

Egotistical, yes. Beyond belief, no. I consider it "normal egoism" to assume that people we like have more in common with us than they actually do just as we tend to believe that people we dislike share fewer commonalities than they actually do.

I also find the Golden Rule to be egotistical/selfish in that the implication is that your reason for your behavior is solely to induce others to behave that way towards you.

Reign_Cryogen

Not to argue against your point, but the example you gave isn't really analogous. Unless, of course, you knew of Sally's allergy beforehand.

redbus81

well, your example takes it a little bit to the extreme, but on some level, yes, i think you're correct. for example, i may like to be tied up before sex...but i would say a vast majority of people DO NOT...so it would be a bad thing for me to go around treating people like that.

also, i know quite a few people who are just fine with very authoritarian methods and work quite well under such conditions. i do not, and would not wish to be treated this way.

i think the saying is most useful to toddlers. ie: would you want someone to bite you? no? then don't bite. would you want someone to hog all your cookies? no? then don't hog someone else's. etc, etc.

GoodLittleAtheist

You are being too specific. You didn't treat Sally how you wish you would be treated. You would wish to be served a meal you like and aren't allergic to.

JamesBannon

You miss the point of GR. You have to place yourself in the other person's position so far as this is possible. Of course the example in the OP isn't immoral as such, it arose purely because of ignorance.

Tears In The Rain

The Golden Rule is how I justify fondling attractive young women.

JamesBannon

Beware projection!

Hrvoje Butkovic

Are you saying that you do not like to be asked how you wish to be treated? All of the people I know like to be given freedom of choice, even regarding things that they supposedly enjoy.

I don’t see how this follows.

Mageth

So use the platinum rule ("Strive to do unto others as they wish to be done onto them" [my paraphrase]) and fall back to the golden rule if you just don't know or aren't sure how they wish to be treated.