Moment in the Word

Matthew 7:12 All things therefore whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. Douay-Rheims Bible
 
 
Today, in our "woke culture" we hear the catch phrase, "Black Lives Matter." Then, as a knee-jerk reaction, everyone else who feels marginalized by the exclusive mantra coins their own version, White Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, and so forth.
Obviously, conflict instantly arises for all the other colors excluded from the activist's palette due to their individual racial bias which is intrinsic to any narrow-minded group; however, there is a better way!
Amazingly, a code of conduct has existed from the dawn of human civilization that is often referenced as the Universal Law. For the last two thousand years, the Church has attributed the most recent version of this time-honored dictum to Jesus, "All things therefore whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them." However, in Matthew 7:12, Christ does not take credit for this saying but clearly cites "the law and the prophets" as the original source.
Surprisingly, this "golden rule" can be traced to ancient authorship. Two thousand years before Jesus, God in His infinite wisdom imparted the "Universal Law" for society's sake to the renowned law givers of most major world religions. Confucianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism and many others all ascribed to the concept of "doing unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Four thousand years ago, the Egyptian story of The Eloquent Peasant said, "Do to the doer to make him do," and near that time, Hammurabi made a similar decree in Babylon.
An Indian document, the Mahabharata, said, "One should never do something to others that one would regard as an injury to one's own self."
Zoroaster taught, "That nature alone is good which refrains from doing to another whatsoever is not good for itself."
Moses wrote God's command, "Thou shalt love thy friend as thyself. I am the Lord." Leviticus 19:18 / Douay-Rheims Bible
And we could go on and on and on.
Rather than Black Lives Matter, White Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, etc., the ancient Universal Law of the Great Law Givers is the only code we need, "All things therefore whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them."
Can you imagine the quality of life on our planet if every single human ascribed to this "Golden Rule" in everything they did? Our world would literally be Heaven on Earth. However, you and I both realize that without some type of negative consequence, our beastly nature would indiscriminately trample the Perfect Law. However, the Golden Rule has a corollary automatically included for the purpose of enforcement that is known as the Law of Reciprocity, "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe." Exodus 21:24-25 / Douay-Rheims Bible
Although we seldom recognize the connection, this ancient universal code is the inverse provision of the Golden Rule. According to the Universal Law written at the beginning of civilization, we should ideally treat others the way we want to be treated, and failing that, we will be punished in the exact same way we transgressed the law. In this way, our conduct becomes a law unto itself, demanding total and absolute accountability that requires us to live and die by virtue of our character.
Consequently, we do not need a color-coded system identifying who matters more than someone else. Instead, we need to reinstate the ancient universal law of the Golden Rule, "All things therefore whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them," and then stand accountable for personal misbehavior by suffering the very same injury that we cause. The Perfect Law was good in the beginning, and it's equally good now. Nothing more is needed.

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