Ron Forthofer: To live by the Golden Rule, we must recognize the ‘others’ – Longmont Times-Call

People early on learn the Golden Rule, essentially to treat others (regardless of differences) as you wish to be treated. This idea is found in many faiths as well. For example, love and compassion, not hatred and coldness, are a key part of Jesus' teachings as well as part of other religions.

The political campaigns and outcome of the Nov. 8 election have served as a wake-up call for many and emphasized the need for people to recommit themselves to the Golden Rule. There is now a widespread realization that there are increased threats, including violence, to vulnerable populations, especially minorities, immigrants, gays, poor people and the disabled in this country. It is great that so many people today are engaging in the effort to support the vulnerable who have been suffering for decades or longer.

However, it's not just individual and group acts of discrimination that are of concern. Vulnerable groups have long been targeted by biased policies and by systemic racism. Examples include the abuse of blacks during the Jim Crow period and the theft of properties and internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

From colonial time, and especially in hard economic times, the rich and powerful used the idea of divide and conquer to keep the overwhelming majority of people from coming together to challenge the power of the few. Unfortunately, this approach is still effective. Hatred against and fear of minorities (including immigrants) is stoked by scapegoating them for the recurring economic hardships and for crimes. Until we understand how we are being manipulated to protect the interests of the 1 percent, we won't achieve an economic system meet the needs of the people and the race to the bottom will continue.

Martin Luther King Jr. said: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Therefore we also have to consider our treatment of peoples in other nations. For example, we have allowed and often encouraged our government to use extreme violence against people who were different from us, especially when we coveted their lands and/or resources. We tended to view the other as inferior, even less than human, and therefore we seemed to think that we could violate the Golden Rule as well as international and human rights laws.

The genocide against Native Americans is a horrific example of our violations. Our government and population acted shamefully against Native Americans, including breaking most treaties negotiated with them. Unfortunately, the treatment of the Sioux water protectors at Standing Rock demonstrates that we have made little progress in following the Golden Rule toward these fellow humans.

The fire bombings of several German and Japanese cities and the use of nuclear weapons against Hiroshima and Nagasaki showed our almost total disregard for civilian lives. By its bombing of cities, the U.S. followed the lead of the enemies and of Britain in committing atrocious war crimes.

According to J. Robert Oppenheimer, even before the approval of the use of the atomic bomb, Secretary of War Henry Stimson expressed dismay at the "appalling" lack of conscience and compassion ushered in by the war. Stimson stated that he was disturbed by the "complacency, the indifference, and the silence with which we greeted the mass bombings in Europe, and, above all, Japan." This indifference likely was also found in the populations of Germany, Japan and Britain.

More recently, the U.S. committed horrendous crimes in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia as well as in the Middle East, starting in Iraq. The illegal and immoral attack on Iraq has played a major role in creating the disaster spreading throughout the Middle East. We, the U.S. public, have generally shown a lack of compassion for the victims of our crimes.

If we are ever to live up to the Golden Rule, all people must realize that the "others" are fellow human beings with equally valuable lives.

Ron Forthofer is a retired professor of biostatistics who lives in Longmont.

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Ron Forthofer: To live by the Golden Rule, we must recognize the 'others' - Longmont Times-Call