A Thread Through Obama's Faith Speeches: The Golden Rule

By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country

Barack Obama's speech to the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast this morning was the fourth major faith-based address he's delivered as president. All those speeches share a common refrain: The Golden Rule. The president invokes it as a universal value that he says transcends all major faith traditions—and even secular humanism.

But each time, Obama uses the Golden Rule in support of a different policy.

In today's prayer breakfast speech, the president invoked the Golden Rule to support his domestic plans on education, healthcare, and home mortgages: 

In all that we do, we must be guided by that simple command that binds all great religions together: Love thy neighbor as thyself.

In the 21st century, we've learned that this truth is central not just to our own lives, but to our success as a nation. If our children cannot get the world-class education they need to succeed, then America will not be able to compete with other countries. If our families cannot afford health care, then the costs go up for all of us—individuals, businesses, and government. If folks down the street can't pay their mortgage and folks across town can't find a job, then that pain is going to trickle into other parts of our economy.

In his address to the Muslim world from Cairo this month, Obama used the Golden Rule to promote unity between the United States and Muslim-majority countries. 

It's easier to start wars than to end them. It's easier to blame others than to look inward. It's easier to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share. But we should choose the right path, not just the easy path. There's one rule that lies at the heart of every religion—that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. This truth transcends nations and peoples—a belief that isn't new; that isn't black or white or brown; that isn't Christian or Muslim or Jew. It's a belief that pulsed in the cradle of civilization, and that still beats in the hearts of billions around the world. It's a faith in other people, and it's what brought me here today.

At his commencement address at University of Notre Dame in May, Obama explained the Golden Rule as a call to service:

For if there is one law that we can be most certain of, it is the law that binds people of all faiths and no faith together. It's no coincidence that it exists in Christianity and Judaism; in Islam and Hinduism; in Buddhism and humanism. It is, of course, the Golden Rule—the call to treat one another as we wish to be treated. The call to love. The call to serve. To do what we can to make a difference in the lives of those with whom we share the same brief moment on this Earth.

And at his address to the National Prayer Breakfast in February, Obama cited the Golden Rule to justify his creation of his own White House faith-based office:

We know too that whatever our differences, there is one law that binds all great religions together. Jesus told us to "love thy neighbor as thyself." The Torah commands, "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow." In Islam, there is a hadith that reads "None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself." And the same is true for Buddhists and Hindus; for followers of Confucius and for humanists. It is, of course, the Golden Rule—the call to love one another; to understand one another; to treat with dignity and respect those with whom we share a brief moment on this Earth.

In this way, the particular faith that motivates each of us can promote a greater good for all of us. Instead of driving us apart, our varied beliefs can bring us together to feed the hungry and comfort the afflicted; to make peace where there is strife and rebuild what has broken; to lift up those who have fallen on hard times. This is not only our call as people of faith, but our duty as citizens of America, and it will be the purpose of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships that I'm announcing later today.

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