As Long as Their Heart’s in the Right Place

Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

—Matthew 7:12

In 2022, Harvard Business Review published an article by Irina Cozma, “It’s Time to Stop Following ‘The Golden Rule’” In it she writes, “It’s time to adopt a “New Golden Rule:” Treat others as they would like to be treated. It’s a small change, but one that can make a huge difference. All it takes to put this new mindset into practice is understanding, curiosity, and compromise.” In a way, she has a point. She says, “In our modern workplace, with all our different preferences, cultural backgrounds, professional disciplines, ages, genders, sexual orientations, etc., treating others as you would like to be treated isn’t always the best option. Although it can be helpful to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, doing so can actually lead to making assumptions based on your own perspective — not theirs.”

My issue with this is if we are truly following the Golden Rule, then we are not making assumptions about other people. Matthew 7:1 says clearly, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” When we make assumptions about people, we are making a judgment. If we truly follow Christ’s teachings, we will not judge or make assumptions about other people, but instead, we will treat them as we want to be treated. We do not want people to make assumptions about us; therefore, we are commanded to not make assumptions about them. People outside the South may hear my Southern accent and automatically assume three things: 1) I’m dumb, 2) I’m racist, 3) I’m a Republican. None of which is true. In the South, people would hear my voice and automatically assume I was gay, but while that was true, I didn’t always feel comfortable with that assumption. And if you’re wondering, people in the North don’t hear my “gay voice;” they only hear the Southern accent.

I was thinking about this last night and this morning after I saw a clip on Instagram from the comedian Karen Mills (@karenmillscomedy). I love Karen. She is so funny, without being raunchy, which has its place sometimes, but Karen is just clean fun. She just discusses everyday life in the South. Most of it, I can absolutely identify with, which makes her so funny. Karen also does some motivational speaking. She is a cancer survivor and had a near-fatal car accident. She often uses humor to help people who are facing hardships. Occasionally, she can also be very serious. This clip from a Ted Talk is one of those times, and she says everything else in this post that I would say, just better than I would say it: