Do NOT Do Unto Others

The Golden Rule is very simple.  Do not do unto others what you would not want done to you.  It requires very little explanation.  There is nothing difficult about this  concept at all, except of course, in the observance of the principle.  Unfortunately, over the years, it has been changed by well-meaning people who like to put positive spins on this ancient idea.  The thought was to modernize the saying and to improve public image by turning the negative statement into a positive statement.

The change took root and spread like wildfire.  It was now an accepted standard that the Golden Rule was to be stated as such:  Do Unto Others as You would Have Them Do to You.  This, in fact, was written into the Christian Bible, Luke 6:31.

So what?  One might think, and shrug without care.  They are both saying the same thing, yes?

No.  The original principle is based upon the idea of doing no harm.  It is not based upon the idea of doing good.  There is a huge difference here.  If you know that you do not like for something to happen to you, and you strive to NOT do the things that you do NOT want others to do to you, you have done no harm.  If, in fact, you strive to do what you think is good to others, regardless of whether they want you to do it to them or not, then you have inadvertently done harm.

And that is the reason why the Golden Rule should be changed back as it was written, thousands of years before the Bible came into being.  Do not do unto others, what you would not want done to you.