And how many people in these religious groups actually believe or put into practice that idea. My feeling is, that it is a tiny, tiny percentage.

Great idea! What if... we could get people to practice it!?
Please pardon my sarcasm.

Yes yes yes and yes, Ok firstly I hold these cannons of wisdom as gold, I do, its actually a core principle of my ethos, but it does goes to show that even a broken clock is correct twice a day..

Yeah but it doesn't work if you're a paedophile.

Do unto others, only do it first, do it harder and then don't let them get up to do it back to you!

The thing is that human evolution and the factors to our survival are complicated. We couldn't have survived for hundreds of thousands of years without being feral and violent but we couldn't have survived without having the right amount of empathy. Humanity is still pretty young in an evolutionary scale and no matter what ideologies we adapt as a species, there is always going to be the primal urge to hold on to certain ideas fanatically because that is what a person knows about their environment at that time and how they have survived. Unfortunately, it's going to take time to see which direction humanity will take... There is a 50/50 chance people will be either more violent or more empathetic. Little reminders like the post above just shows that we are aware that our species could be better to each other.

How about the Platinum rule: Treat people they way they want to be treated.

Too bad most of them don't practice what they preach.

It is all very simple really?

They define empathy.

It is unfortunate may people must be taught empathy by their church, yet they do not understand.

Truth is truth no matter what language.

Why is it the least bit surprising to people that a good idea would occur to more than one society?

The religious call it the golden rule, the rest of us call it empathy.

That's because they all stole ideas from each other and dead religions from the past. At least whoever came up with each religion put in common sense rules for the sheep to follow.... Some think without religion and being told what the rules are that people wouldn't have morals...

Now, if only we could get them to follow those rules 24/7!

Or simply, "don't be an a-hole".

Good rule to live by

Make nice.