It is good to be guided by ideals. It is also good for us as individuals to develop abilities to make practical judgments and to deal with practical problems. We also need to develop our peace-keeping abilities and our abilities to build cooperative relationships. Throughout history we human beings have acquired more and more knowledge about the natural world around us and about our own bodies and our mental, emotional and social capacities. We now find ourselves living in a world with over 7 billion people, increasing living huge cities with tons of urban problems. Throughout history social structures have evolved to enable us to govern ourselves -- always quite imperfectly. Now, as always, we find ourselves dividing into self-protecting factions, some intent on gaining wealth and power, others merely trying to avoid being exploited and cruelly treated, still others bitter and hateful.
The world's religions have reached somewhat of a common understanding of the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
Christianity has many different sayings -- such as love your neighbor, turn the other check, forgive seventy times seven times -- but they all add up to showing good will toward others, not seeking to harm others and not being indifferent toward others' well-being. We need to live our lives constructively, not destructively.
Politics is the way we have to solve social problems. Although politics as actually practiced is often competitive and self-seeking, we need resist that tendency and learn to be more caring of others, more open to meeting people different from ourselves and getting to know them. We need to learn to uphold human dignity and discover each person's inherent worth and goodness.
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