Do Unto Others

[dairygirl4u2c]

do unto others as you'd have them do unto you....

what does this mean really? i do tend to over analyze things, but i don't think this is necessarily clear.

i don't want others to stop me from doing certain things. subjectively, anyways. objectively though, if i am doing something wrong, i want others to stop me. so, with others, as i'd want to be treated, do i cater to their objective or the subjective person?

i think i may need to get into hypothetical situations to figure out if i'm way off making this complicated, but i'd like your thoughts too.

[Aloysius]

I say cater to their objective realities, not their subjective ones.

A good Christian (to whom this command is addressed) would want to be in touch with reality and doing good according to objective reality no matter what. Therefore, as he would want to be corrected, so should he correct others. I wouldn't want to be corrected by being yelled at or smacked upside the head (well, actually, there are situations in which a slap upside the head would be justified and I'd want someone to do it, so I won't rule that out as a possibility, but you know what I mean)... therefore I should go about correcting others the way I would want to be corrected when I am in error.

[Katholikos]

[quote]do unto others as you'd have them do unto you....

what does this mean really? i do tend to over analyze things, but i don't think this is necessarily clear.[/quote]



It's kinda like knowing what the definition of "is" is.

Likos

Edited May 12, 2007 by Katholikos

[Ethos]

I believe this refers more to an external action. The statement encompasses all sins, since sin by nature is harmful. Hence if you do unto other what you would want done to you, sin would be absent in your life (i.e. gossip, fighting, ect, ect).

Regarding your issue I believe it is vital to offer help to someone, even if they are not asking for it. For example, I have a friend who is an alcoholic, I did not accuse him of this or tell him that he must seek treatment. I simply told him that their is an alternative and when he is ready to call me. By not judging you are leaving the door open and through dedicatory prayers, Christ will lead him to the threshold.

[dairygirl4u2c]

I can sort of see stopping them from their objective sin. But, they also have a right to sin, I think, so maybe we shouldn't go for the objective stopping, or else we'd be outlawing all sins..

Plus, I can see objectively someone should want help, but subjectively they don't. I'd think the subjective person is what should be more clearly catered to, because it's just something extra.