The Baha'i Studies Listserv I forgot to include specific religious ethics. Note, Scientology and Wicca are good examples of the hypothesis. The Baha'i Faith and Religious Humanism are good examples as well.
The "Declaration Toward a Global Ethic"[34] from the Parliament of the World’s Religions[35][36] (1993) proclaimed the Golden Rule ("We must treat others as we wish others to treat us") as the common principle for many religions.[37] The Initial Declaration was signed by 143 respected leaders from all of the world's major faiths, including Baha'i Faith, Brahmanism, Brahma Kumaris, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Indigenous, Interfaith, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Native American, Neo-Pagan, Sikhism, Taoism, Theosophist, Unitarian Universalist and Zoroastrian.[37][38] In the folklore of several cultures{31} the Golden Rule is depicted by the allegory of the long spoons. The Writings of the Bahá'í Faith while encouraging everyone to treat others as they would treat themselves, go further by introducing the concept of preferring others before oneself: O SON OF MAN! Deny not My servant should he ask anything from thee, for his face is My face; be then abashed before Me. —Bahá'u'lláh[39] Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself. —Bahá'u'lláh[40][41] And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest for thyself. —Bahá'u'lláh[42][43] Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not. —Bahá'u'lláh[44][45][46] Beware lest ye harm any soul, or make any heart to sorrow; lest ye wound any man with your words, be he known to you or a stranger, be he friend or foe. —`Abdu'l-Bahá[47] Many different sources claim the Golden Rule as a humanist principle:[55][56] Trying to live according to the Golden Rule means trying to empathise with other people, including those who may be very different from us. Empathy is at the root of kindness, compassion, understanding and respect – qualities that we all appreciate being shown, whoever we are, whatever we think and wherever we come from. And although it isn’t possible to know what it really feels like to be a different person or live in different circumstances and have different life experiences, it isn’t difficult for most of us to imagine what would cause us suffering and to try to avoid causing suffering to others. For this reason many people find the Golden Rule’s corollary – “do not treat people in a way you would not wish to be treated yourself” – more pragmatic.[55] The above is from the website Think Humanism Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you. [is] (...) the single greatest, simplest, and most important moral axiom humanity has ever invented, one which reappears in the writings of almost every culture and religion throughout history, the one we know as the Golden Rule. Moral directives do not need to be complex or obscure to be worthwhile, and in fact, it is precisely this rule's simplicity which makes it great. It is easy to come up with, easy to understand, and easy to apply, and these three things are the hallmarks of a strong and healthy moral system. The idea behind it is readily graspable: before performing an action which might harm another person, try to imagine yourself in their position, and consider whether you would want to be the recipient of that action. If you would not want to be in such a position, the other person probably would not either, and so you should not do it. It is the basic and fundamental human trait of empathy, the ability to vicariously experience how another is feeling, that makes this possible, and it is the principle of empathy by which we should live our lives.[57] The above is from the website Ebon Musings According to Greg M. Epstein, a Humanist chaplain at Harvard University, " 'do unto others' ... is a concept that essentially no religion misses entirely. But not a single one of these versions of the golden rule requires a God".[58] These eight words the Rede fulfill, 'an ye harm none do as ye will. —The Wiccan Rede Here ye these words and heed them well, the words of Dea, thy Mother Goddess, "I command thee thus, O children of the Earth, that that which ye deem harmful unto thyself, the very same shall ye be forbidden from doing unto another, for violence and hatred give rise to the same. My command is thus, that ye shall return all violence and hatred with peacefulness and love, for my Law is love unto all things. Only through love shall ye have peace; yea and verily, only peace and love will cure the world, and subdue all evil." —The Book of Ways, Devotional Wicca 19. Try not to do things to others that you would not like them to do to you. —The Way to Happiness, Precept 19[73][74] 20. Try to treat others as you would want them to treat you. —The Way to Happiness, Precept 20[75][76] Consistent with the observation by Walter Terence Stace "that 'doing as you would be done by' includes taking into account your neighbor's tastes as you would that he should take yours into account" (see Criticisms and responses to criticisms), Scientologyaddresses the issue concerning differences in values or interests by focusing on the values and interests of the recipient of the conduct: Thus today we have two golden rules for happiness: 1. Be able to experience anything; and 2. Cause only those things which others are able to experience easily. —Scientology: A New Slant on Life, Two Rules for Happy Living[70][71][72] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_ethics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_ethics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_ethics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_ethics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_(Scientology) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiccan_morality Sent from my iPad On Apr 18, 2013, at 12:43, Stephen Kent Gray <skg_z...@yahoo.com> wrote: > The Baha'i Studies Listserv > I remember talking about these concepts earlier. Post conventional morality > is based on a social contract and universal ethical principles without > regards to specific terms on which they need to be based upon. Conventional > morality is based on authority and conformity which requires a specific norm > and everyone to conform to it. Pre conventional morality is based on rewards > and punishments. > > Don C seem to think the Baha'i Faith is the prime example of a post > conventional religion. You can look at them and see which new religious > movements are even better examples of a post conventional religion. This is > especially with regards to sexual morality and ethics as a subtropical as > well. > > Bahai's tend to have a lot of conventional morality. Just look at the Aqdas > and try and see wether or not that qualifies as a convention. > > To summarize, why is anything more than the platinum rule, golden rule, > silver rule, and non aggression principle which are all the same thing > enough? Especially when you apply these to sexuality (which was the last > topic that spilled over in those topic)? > > Among major religious groups or world religions: Baha'i Faith, Cao Dai, > Cheodogyo, Tenrikyo, Wicca, Sekai Kysuei Kyo, Seicho No Ie, Rastafarianism, > Unitarian Universalism, Scientology, Eckankar, LaVeyanism, Raëlism, > Neo-Druidism, etc. are all new religious movements. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_new_religious_movements > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_religious_movement > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UFO_religions > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFO_religion > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Kohlberg%27s_stages_of_moral_development > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_in_religion > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morality_and_religion > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-aggression_principle > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_religious_groups > > Sent from my iPad __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:arch...@mail-archive.com Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:leave-697860-27401.54f46e81b66496c9909bcdc2f7987...@list.jccc.edu Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to ly...@list.jccc.edu Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.net New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu