One often hears it said today that all religions are the same. It is a curious claim given that even a cursory reading of the doctrines of different faiths reveals a wide variety of ideas which have little in common with each other. Some of these are held strongly enough and considered fundamental enough that they sometimes create debate and occasionally even conflict. However, there is one idea that nearly all of the world’s major religions contain and would agree on, and that is the so-called Golden Rule. I say ‘so called’ because the term Golden Rule is a relatively recent one and specifically Christian. It is not found in the Bible and in fact it was first used by the English clergyman Thomas Jackson in 1604. To say that this term is not that old is not to say that it isn’t an appropriate one. It is! Just as gold is universally perceived as beautiful and regarded as valuable, so is the principle embodied in the term Golden Rule.
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