The Golden Rule...one upped

The Golden Rule...one upped

Things have been very busy both at the Farm and around work. After 11 years with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center I am now receiving my paychecks from the University of Washington. Nothing about my job has changed except that I am now officially employed by "the man"; the government; the state.

The last two days I have suffered through their intensive orientation program which included the infamous "Diversity Training"...and on more than one occasion did I feel as if I was in an episode of "The Office." Remember, now, we are talking about Washington State here! So you can imagine.

Anyway, at one point during the "Diversity and Cultural Sensitivity" training I learned that the "Golden Rule" was no longer applicable. No, our enlightened culture had apparently one-upped God and has come up with what they call "The Platinum Rule" which is similar to the Golden Rule ("Treat others as you would want to be treated"), but differs thusly:

Treat others as THEY would want to be treated

Ahhh! Thus a sado-masochist should be....ahem.

In reality, of course, our Lord actually did trump such fluffy nonsense by telling us: "Love your neighbor as yourself." In THAT context there is a world of difference...but not so much diversity.

Comments

Rick said…
The interesting thing about the platinum rule is that you must actually figure out what the person is thinking at the moment. You can't actually even ask because after they respond they might change their mind. It is hilarious the rules people come up with.
Anonymous said…
On the other hand, it's a bogus distinction. The suggestion is that people in the first century weren't smart enough (or not as smart as us moderns) to realize that different people have different tastes, desires, attitudes, cultures. Yes, yes, I understand that we have to think about what the other person wants in a given situation. Thank you for discovering America. Sheesh, that diversity stuff is so high-handed and obnoxious.

- Steve K

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