May 12, 2017 at 5:00 am | By MARK REINER – Bonner County Daily Bee

Morality, not the philosophical idea, nor the words, but rather the living blossom of goodwill in action by each and every person forms the basis of human behavior in all great religions. Perceive the golden rule in each of the following quotes.

Christianity: All things therefore whatsoever you would men should do unto you, even so do you unto them.

Islam: No one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.

Judaism: And what thou thyself hatest, do to no man.

Buddhism: Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.

Hinduism: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you.

These precepts have been with humanity for centuries, yet look around the world, our own nation, community, and even our families. If we are going to be honest with ourselves, we must first look into our own psyches. We must find out why we ignore the refugees, the poor, the starving, the homeless. We must find the blockages to our goodwill. Yes, many of us love our family and friends; however, none of the quotes above limit themselves to any subdivision of humanity.

Most people look for some organization, religion, government or schools to solve the problems. Many people in the U.S. believe government holds the key to our safety, our economic well being and even to our happiness. Nothing could be further from the truth. You hold the key. Looking to government or any institution allows us to not have to look into ourselves. We are seldom asking ourselves to step up to shoulder a broader, more inclusive, goodwill. We normally offer a token donation to placate our conscience. These problems are simply forms of a self-centeredness. Those of the Christian religion should read Samuel I, Chapter 8 where the people demand a king. The crux of the chapter lies in verse 7, And the Lord said unto Samuel, Harken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. The chapter goes on to describe the problems that will befall those who put their trust into political leaders. These problems and many more are now rampant.

Everyone of us should now realize that all political parties want control, for control is power. It is you they are controlling. You have given away your independence because you have given away your responsibilities which should be manifest in goodwill to all humanity. The reason we are having economic problems is because our society is more oriented to taking and not giving, to receiving and not sharing, to grasping and holding onto the illusion of lack in the midst of plenty. Those who hold that illusion as well as those who would take up arms against them share a deeper and more profound fear of pain and death. This is despite the recognition by all of the religions mentioned of a consciousness after so-called death. We already saw they all have the mandate to love your neighbor as yourself.

So far fear has trumped the required goodwill, and we continue to ignore the golden rule, rely on institutions to shoulder our responsibilities and then feign ignorance as to the source of the problems. The question is, what is each of us going to do about it?

Pastors Corner is a weekly column written by local pastors.

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May 12, 2017 at 5:00 am | By MARK REINER - Bonner County Daily Bee