I listened to a talk radio show the other day. The guest of the day, was Karen Armstrong, wrote a Biographical book on the Bible. One of the main topics of discussion was how religion had shifted from attempting to personify and embody the variants of the golden rule, to the more rigid and moralistic use of sacred texts to bash over the head, those who disagree with some particular moral standard or issue. She reiterated how the idea of caring for and bettering the community and society we lived in was laid aside in pursuit of the absolute truth, being right, and proving every dissenter wrong.
For the most part I agree with most of what she said. As I was reading, I ran across a passage by James—one of the disciples of Jesus of Nazareth—who said something similar:
“Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?” -James 4:11-12
This text reminded me that it isn’t my job to convince those of different belief systems that I’m right and their wrong. It isn’t my job to chastise others whose actions I may find personally distasteful. I’m not responsible for creating the moral and ethical laws other people should live by; and I’m definitely not righteous enough to judge them when they violate said standard.
…It is hard enough, just to live by the golden rule.
