The "golden rule" doesn't mean more than don't retaliate if the paragraph it ends is taken as context. — Benkei
So, there's only one meaning to be gleamed from the monologue? Just one?
In the wider context of Luke 6 it might also mean do "good" to others even if they're being dicks. — Benkei
Isn't this another meaning, though? :’(
It has nothing to do with "compassionate intentions" and those aren't required to understand the rule...At most it can be said that being compassionate is the type of thing to do unto others. — Benkei
I would argue that compassion rests only in the heart that strives to do good as a means of achieving a greater moral end. This sentiment is what I find most in the New Testament, as Jesus very much emphasizes a change of heart, an angling more toward an inward moral responsibility. It wasn't enough to him that good came about from amoral, or indeed even immoral, intentions. This is why love is perhaps best defined as the concerted and intentional willing of the good of another, which is an act of pure compassion.
I might add that the Golden Rule is not an egotist position. There has to be a kind of agreement between two who are interacting with each other. I don't find the Rule to be some blind guessing game, akin to throwing darts against someone's feelings. And if you weren't or aren't aware, Jesus spends the vast majority of his time precisely answering the question of "how best might we treat each other?" He replies with honesty, compassion, "doing good", etc. etc. In other words, Jesus at the very least highlights the norms strangers should treat fellow strangers - that they should be respectful, helpful, and caring, for Jesus aptly realized that nobody disdains being cared for or respected on a fundamental level.
The fact remains, it seems to me, that you're wanting to take a more literal, less interpretive understanding of Jesus's Golden Rule (which is fine, I don't necessarilly disagree with you), while I'm trying to focus more on why Jesus would think in such a way and how it functions in his philosophy.
Also, thanks for not being so hot under the collar today. As I just reflected on above, I myself strive to be respectful and patient with others who I know little of, which I think I've shown myself to have done here. It is of some irony that you were disgruntled from the onset, for if I treated you in such a way out of nowhere, I doubt you'd think nothing of it. Or do you usually begin conversations with your ass talking to others' faces? :P
