From: TURTLE              
To: DRAGONFLY           
Subject: Morality.      
Date & Time: 05/08/91 19:51:26
Message Number 16647

DF>[Moral preaching]
 
Well, let's take this one step at a time. Of the four moral codes you
mentioned, the Wiccan "As it harms none, do as thou wilt" and the
Buddhist "Do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto
you" are /not/ the same. The difference is fairly subtle, but I'd still
expect someone who spends as much time as you do contemplating this sort
of nonsense to grasp it. All the other codes (except Crowley's, which is
hardly a "moral code") govern /specifically/ the way you behave toward
other people. They make no mention of any action and do not pretend to
cover any action that does not directly impact on other people. The
Wiccan code does. Also, the other codes (this is the subtle distinction)
prohibit /doing things TO other people/ which you would not have done
unto you. The Wiccan code prohibits doing /anything/ which harms others.
Even incidentally; even indirectly. While the others can /by extension/
be considered to prohibit those actions which might harm people
incidentally, they do not /specifically/ prohibit those actions; they
only tell you not to do something which you wouldn't like someone else
to do to you. If you do something which doesn't involve others directly
and hurts others only incidentally, you are not "doing unto" others what
you wouldn't want done unto you. There are many people in this country
who consider themselves good, upstanding Christians, who in their
conduct to others obey the Golden Rule, who still dump CFC's into the
air, bury toxic waste, etc. The Wiccan rule /specifically/ forbids these
actions.
 
By "more sophisticated" I meant "more complex; more subtle and well-
developed". That should not have been that difficult to figure out...