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The ethics of reciprocity, or the Golden Rule

The concept of the ethics of reciprocity or commonly called the Golden Rule is rooted in a number of the world’s cultures and religions.

To quote a few examples:

“What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others.”  - Confucius

“...and you should forgive and overlook: Do you not wish Allah to forgive you? And Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.” - Surah 24 v.22 (Quran)

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” - Luke 6:31 (Bible)

In view of the above, we can conclude that the Golden Rule is universally accepted. A people or society that upholds and practices such teaching enjoys harmonious relationships.

We, as the people of Malaysia who live in a multi-racial and multi-religious society, should all the more so practice the Golden rule in order for us to continue to enjoy peace and harmony among us.

In 2010, Terry Jones, a weird man claiming to be the pastor of a church in Florida, threatened to burn Quran on the anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks. The reaction to his threat resulted in a number of innocent lives lost.

His action was soundly condemned in the strongest possible terms by governments, as well as Muslim and Christian leaders around the world.

Jones not only violated the Golden Rule but also the clear teaching of the Bible concerning love and forgiveness. Although he claimed to be a pastor, the Bible teaches that a tree is known by its fruit; Jones’ unilateral action was condemned by the church leaders.

It is obvious and understandable that the Muslims were rightly incensed by the threat. Even the Christians would feel the same when someone makes an open threat to burn the Bibles.

Now in Malaysia Ibrahim Ali threatened to burn the Bible because it contains the word ‘Allah’. (The use of the word ‘Allah’ is pre-Islamic and has been used by Arabic speaking Christians worldwide. Moreover, the bumiputera Christians in East Malaysia have used it for centuries without problems.)

The de facto law minister, Nancy Shukri, said that Ibrahim’s threat does not warrant being charged under the Sedition Act because he alegedly did so to defend the sanctity of Islam.

Pretext used too often

So, he got away scot-free by using the pretext “in defence of Islam”. This pretext or rather excuse has been used too often by too many people for too many times.

He has clearly violated the Golden Rule and the clear teaching of the religion he professes to defend. He is no different from the extremist, Terry Jones.

Too many people have used or abused the name of religion to promote their own personal agenda. Terry Jones and Ibrahim Ali are just two of them.

Appropriate action should be taken against such people if we want the moderates to prevail and live in peace and harmony with each other.

Meanwhile, let each of us practise the teaching of the Golden Rule to make Malaysia a better place to live.


NEHALI is an engineer who writes with the conviction that the silent majority of moderates should speak up to prevent the beloved nation of Malaysia being hijacked by the extremists.

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