Launching the Golden Rules:
The Lincolnshire Faith Council, at the AGM and annual conference launched the Golden Rules poster which is something they had been working on for a year. Here at LFC, we promote trust, understanding & cooperation between our local faith communities. Our approach is to encourage the exploring of differences and commonalities and of working together on the basis of shared values, which we believe is a vital part of living together well in a diverse society. If we look back for a moment deep into pre-history, archaeological finds suggest that early human societies, like us today, marvelled at the world around them and maybe engaged in exploring questions such as ‘why am I here?’, ‘where did I come from?’ and ‘where am I going?’. Echoes perhaps of the quotes on the Brayford Bridge ‘Where have you been?’ & ‘Where are you going?’
Over millennium these types of questions have given rise to spiritual or religious traditions and practices as well to philosophical contemplations. At the heart of these is the recognition of the preciousness and uniqueness of human life, of having kindness towards others, and justice and peace for all. These fundamental human values are the root from which genuine faiths have blossomed over the millenniums to meet the needs and inclinations of many different groups of people. Each of our faith tradition today have teachings about the importance of treating others as we ourselves would wish to be treated. These teachings inspire and underpin engagement of people of different faiths with others and their social action for the wellbeing of society.
Not unsurprisingly there are similar values in non- religious believes, for example the moral & ethical philosophies of Confucianism in ancient China and of Socrates in Greece. And of course, today the Humanist movement. These teachings are sometimes called the Golden Rule. The term Golden Rule comes from a painting by the artist Norman Rockwell, rendered as a mosaic at the United Nations. The mosaic depicts people from many traditions and cultures of the world united in harmony, dignity and respect, which touches on the theme of human fundamental values. Inscribed on the surface of the mosaic is the Golden Rule: ‘Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You’. It depicts a common experience and a shared aspiration to bring together in dialogue the world’s religions and philosophies.
The Lincolnshire Faith Council has prepared its version of the ‘Golden Rule’ with contributions from different faith groups and reflects the values that our diverse faith communities see as held in common.
