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The Golden Rule

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Book final final THE GOLDEN RULE as THE SUPREME PRINCIPLE implications for FAITH

Faith within the Limits of Love and Reason

SECTION ONE: Why Reason Must Have the Final Word

To see why reason must have the final word in all things, I will illustrate the role of reason in three different cases. This I think should suffice to make the point.

(1) Consulting Some Authority

Suppose we are confronted with two or more conflicting alternatives concerning what to say, think or do and in hopes of resolving this confusing conflict, we seek out some wiser person, some authority, who can give us the correct answer. This raises the question: Who is the authority we can turn to: our Mom, our Dad, our grandparent, a priest or a clergyman, a Rabbi or Ayatollah, a bodhisattva, a therapist or counselor, the Pope, a lawyer, a real estate agent, an auto mechanic? Well, of course, our choice depends on the nature of our problem. So, reason needs to play a role here in helping us to determine what kind of authority to consult. Okay, let us suppose that our conflict is of a religious nature. We still need to ask which priest, which clergyman, which Rabbi, which Ayatollah or which bodhisattva etc. to choose. So here again, reason has a role to play. There is more. After we have settled who to consult, sometimes we will find that the advice is really bad advice. Sometimes we will find that the advice is really good advice. On still other occasions, we won't know what to make of the advice and will not be able to decide whether it is good or bad. In cases where we believe the advice is bad or where we are at a loss to evaluate it, we can always consult some other person. That is indeed a good thing to do in any case. In fact, we should not just passively listen to the various authorities we seek out. We should actively discuss the matter with them, since we are bound to learn

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