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I recently wrote about how the Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”) is a part of every single world religion. This note lifts my spirits by showing me that it is also a part of the moral education of every compassionate family,

Q: My husband and I were raised Catholic, and our parents believed in the Golden Rule. When our three daughters were young, we tried to teach it to them whenever the occasion was appropriate. Our middle daughter, Megan, explained it as “How would you like it if I did it to you?”. From that day forward, we called it Megan’s Rule. I’m pleased to say they have taught the Golden Rule to their children. Thank you so much for your column. I’ve read it for years. – (From D)

A: The key to the Golden Rule is the key to all ethics. Ethics is about how we treat others. There are branches of philosophy like metaphysics which is the study of being or epistemology which is the study of how we know the truth where we don’t need other minds. They can be done by a single solitary thinking person. Ethics, however, cannot be done alone. It is the study of how we interact with other human beings. The same is true about religion. It is a guide to human flourishing together. This is why you can live your life without any clear idea of metaphysics but you cannot live your life without an ethical system and the Golden Rule is the very best ethical system human beings have ever created – or as I would put it – the Golden Rule is the very best ethical system that human beings have ever received.

Q: Dear Rabbi Gellman, may I ask, can't we use the one common denominator, a loving God, to answer the big questions without clogging up the whole thing without the attachment of a religion? Why can't we separate religion from God? God and religion are not one, religion is our downfall. God is above all that human stuff, thank you for listening to an old insane lady. – (From G)

A: Dearest G, I don’t know if you are old, but I do know that you are not insane. Religion can indeed be separated from God. God is the creator and sustainer of the universe and the source of salvation from sin within it. Religion is the record we humans have made of our experiences with and our beliefs in that God. Religions are different because our experiences with God are different.

I have wondered for many years why so many people have positive views of God but negative views about the stories of God that are at the core of religions. Perhaps it is the result of some negative experience in a house of worship or with a clergy person. Whatever the reason, I don’t see how you can come to love God and not love at least some of the stories of how that God has touched this world. I know the stories that make up religions are diverse. Some religions like Hinduism have recorded sacred stories about many gods, while the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam experienced God as a single God. Religions like Buddhism do not experience a creator God at all in their formative sacred stories. The person who best summed up why there are many religions is the Dalai Lama who wrote in a forward to one of the books I wrote with Father Tom these words that I have quoted to you, dear readers, in the past, but the truth never grows old,

“All the world’s religious traditions are similar because they help us become better human beings. For centuries, millions of people have found peace of mind in their own religious tradition. Today, the world over, we can find followers of many faiths giving up their own welfare in order to help others. I believe that this wish to work for the happiness of others is the most important goal of all religious practice. Human beings naturally possess different interests. So, it is not surprising that we have many different religious traditions with different ways of thinking and behaving. But this variety is a way for everyone to be happy. If we have a great variety of food, we will be able to satisfy different tastes and needs. When we only have bread, the people who eat rice are left out. And the reason those people eat rice is that rice is what grows best where they live.”

So, eat what grows best where you live by following God where you live.

(Send ALL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including “Religion for Dummies,” co-written with Fr. Tom Hartman. Also, the new God Squad podcast is now available.)

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