Quaker Universalist Voice

Speaking truth in the global public square…

The Golden Rule: The Movie

The Catholic theologian Han Kung summed up the goal of the interfaith movement in these memorable words:

“There can be no peace without peace among the religions. There can be no peace among the religions without dialogue. And there can be no dialogue without a common ethic.”


The “common ethic” he was referring to was the Golden Rule, a universal ethical principle that all religions endorse. The trailer for this movie shows how high school teachers enabled their students to use their gifts and talents to express the Golden Rule in ways that “spoke to their condition.” I hope Friends and others will be inspired by this video to organize interfaith youth gatherings to explore this common ethic and thereby promote peace and understanding.

I especially liked the part which dramatized the Jainist principle of ahimsa (nonviolence towards all creatures, including bugs). — Anthony Manousos

Here’s the blurb for this video: 

Scarboro Missions is proud to announce that our Golden Rule Movie is making an educational impact. This movie has become a great resource to teachers and youth leaders because of its themes of youth, global citizenship, multiculturalism, ethics, diversity and the arts.    The DVD features eleventh-grade students in three high schools embodying golden rule values in skits, artwork, interviews, music, dance, and rap. The film eloquently demonstrates how character education can be engendered in young people using play, creativity and the arts.  The movie also contains a comprehensive introduction to the concept of the Golden Rule that is helpful for both teachers and students. This movie has been used for teacher-training particularly in religious education, multicultural studies and world religions.  Thematic to the movie is the Scarboro Missions Golden Rule Poster which has achieved international renown as an educational and interfaith resource. The poster features the Golden Rule ˆ symbolically and scripturally - in 13 religions.  This ground-breaking DVD was produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker, Tina Petrova (Rumi: Turning Ecstatic).


 For more info about the Golden Rule film, check this website:
www.thegoldenrulemovie.com

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewp4k4-X_E8]

Comments

The Golden Rule makes a nice, catchy, ethical common ground for different religions-- but it's a common result, not a common root. When Jesus gets involved in "What are the most crucial commandments?"-- the first is "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength." and the second, he says, "is like it." That "Love your neighbor as yourself" dictum (essentially the same conceptual territory as the Golden Rule) is only second. It is "like the first" because you, and your neighbor, are manifestations of Spirit, the same Spirit that this first commandment is telling you to love. Whether the theology of any religion affirms, ignores, or denies it, that Creator/creature connection is its true root, the true common root of them all.
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