As one who was raised in a Protestant Christian household, I first encountered the Golden Rule in this English translation from the New Testament of the Bible:

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

For years I had never stopped to consider the implications of these simple words; but as I read it today, I take it to mean that the way I want others to treat me should be the standard for how I am to treat others. And if this is an accurate reading, then apparently I am to conclude that the way others actually want to be treated is secondary.

If this approach carries the day, I need not even make inquiries of others. I need not trouble myself so much as to ASK. All I need do is survey myself as to how I would like to be treated and thereupon do likewise with everyone else.

This world already suffers from a lack of dialogue, understanding, and acceptance — especially across cultures and social classes; so the last thing we need is to embrace a maxim which would absolve us of doing our part toward correcting that problem.

I live and work among people who span multiple races, genders, religions, ethnicities, nationalities, and sexual orientations. Why should I whitewash over all these disparate backgrounds with a narcissistic preoccupation with what I want and how I want to be treated? How is this not the seed of cultural imperialism and colonialism, a moral license by a dominant culture to run roughshod over the values and traditions of the powerless — all with a clear conscience and even a perverse sense of magnanimity?

One could posit that the wisdom of the Golden Rule already allows for this insofar as our wanting others to treat us with consideration for our culture and religion provides a moral imperative for us to do likewise. But in our daily intercourse with each other, we don't think in such abstract terms. We are instead focused more on the mechanics of our transactions, and in this area the Golden Rule doesn't serve us well.

You may ask, but who does not want personal freedom? Who does not want to be treated with respect and fairness? Who does not want health and safety for themselves and their families? To ask these questions is itself an illustration of the problem, for beneath it lies the unspoken assumption that the way in which we view these things is universal among all peoples. I'm not prepared to assume that how to show respect for a midwestern American Lutheran white male farmer is the same as that for an urban Pakistani Muslim female college professor.

All this is not to say we should trash the Golden Rule. Instead, we can rehabilitate it. All the foregoing problems, all the assumptions, rationalizations, and perversions (conscious or not), can be avoided if only we recast the Golden Rule in these terms:

Do unto others as THEY would have you do unto them.

Of course, if this revision were to carry the day, if we were to set about treating people as they truly want to be treated, it would call on us to actually talk with one another. It would call on us to listen to others in an effort to learn about their culture, beliefs, and customs. And, alas, it seems we can have no part of that.

So along comes this expedient that releases us and allows us the luxury of feeling comfortably moral as well. We don't need to talk with others because we already know what's best for them — which, according to the Golden Rule, is conveniently what's best for us.