It's no F**KING wonder why my teacher used to keep me after school.....She wanted to teach me the GOLDEN RULE......I am such a FOOL....lol

I think we would be better off with an eye for an eye being the golden rule... honestly if people knew if they do something it will be done right back to them they would think twice and not say or do half of the stuff they say and do out of fear... people are selfish creatures in general... they only do something if they get something out of it... only way to stop them from doing something they want to do when it comes to hurting others is make the price too high.

I just read something recently about relationships that surprised me but I've been thinking about, that we should treat the other person they way that they express they want to be treated, not as we want to be treated. The idea being that we tend to assume that everyone wants the same things we do when that isn't necessarily true.

I still agree on most things, because we don't get to have a lengthy chat with everyone about what they want, the golden rule is golden.

maryjane, i think in your (and my case), the golden rule for x-mas would be to treat yourself decent, and try and see yourself w/ an eye that is fair and loving and kind.
i'm sorry you'll be alone.

an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.

not really...for example say you knew if you were going to stab someone they would stab you back or worse shoot you... you would think twice about it... people do bad things because they get away with it... if you made the punishment for hurting someone else so horrific then people wouldn't do things... not because they care about others but because they care about themselves...

no.
if you do unto others, you have no thoughts about harming another soul.
it just isn't a part of any equation.

it's kinda' like the whole `it is our right to have a gun for protection' and then lead the murder rate for negligent homicide.

and if it is horrific punishment, we're no better than them, y'know???

you have to think about future victims... if you personally allow someone to get away with something then you are partially responsible when they do the same thing to the next person.

Stopping someone after they do something horrible before they do it to someone else does make you better... harsher punishments is totally what the world needs... we can't just expect people to be good... that is the problem... people see the world the way they wish it could be instead of the way it is.

I like that thought, A golden rule Christmas. May a golden rule 2011 New Year be added also?

no negative can come from a desire for the golden rule.

BE GONE to the naysayers.

MrN,
I love your kind spirit and while I fail sometimes, I really try to be kind to everyone.

I feel badly about myself when I treat other people badly. Even if the other person isn't nice to me if I treat them the way I want to be treated, I at least get to feel good about myself

OMG gratefulheart! I was going to say the same thing!

In general, yes I agree with 'The Golden Rule'. But it truly does not always work that way.....especially in relationships. I think we all express love in different ways, and what makes me happy may not make you happy.

People aren't always vocal about what their specific needs are, and when it comes to loved ones, well I feel it's very important to be attentive.

This is a big reason as to why my marriage failed. For a very long time we were treating each other the way we wished to be treated.... which was not at all what the other wanted.

Oh heck...did that make sense?

Reading it back, I'm not so sure I got my point across :/

do unto others, as you would have done to you.

How much more clear can it be? It isn't even difficult.

I've done the same thing in relationships...treated the other like I wanted to be treated, but our definitons of things were different. So it caused more problems.

Reading this post made me think...that's not really following the Golden Rule.

What do I want? (in a relationship)? To have my partner understand what I want, and to understand what they want. Simple.

So following the Rule, I shouldn't have assumed, and I should have sought out how he wanted to be treated, as I hope he would do for me.

Damn I hope that made sense, because it has messed up my brain trying to say that in any way that even looks coherent LOL

Golden Rule. Can't go wrong...just needs a little thought in certain situations :)