Fundamental Laws of Humanity

I’ve mentioned here previously God holds the whole human race accountable to some fundamental laws. It has nothing to do with going to Heaven, but a system by which humans can expect to gain a modicum of material prosperity, consistent health and longevity, and a measure of social stability. Obeying these laws will get you those things; flouting those laws will see them reduced. Ignore them long enough and eventually your country-nation-tribe will be destroyed. What makes it difficult is the penalties and blessings don’t appear in the first generation, but may be a little slow in taking effect.

That’s on the broader scale, but you can stake out some good things for youself regardless of your community. First and foremost, you must conceive some measure of belief this stuff actually works. That should be rather obvious. Simply adopt some basic principles.

1. Put yourself neither higher nor lower in priority than those around you. Their needs are your needs. There is enough natural disparity between people; we don’t need to create more. Accept what is, and let people excel, but in the final analysis, it’s not about fairness but about loving your fellow man. Learn to sense and honor the boundaries of others, even if you can’t always observe them. Do what you can and be graceful about it.

2. You ain’t nobody. This is a corollary to the previous point. It merits separate mention because most people have a problem with it. This is not the walk-on-me perversion of self-loathing or any thing sick like that, but a recognition self-esteem is a stupid concern. Self-esteem is the natural by-product of doing what you should rather consistently, but pride kills. Be respectful, and in the long run you’ll get more than your share of it back.

3. Clean up your messes. Do your best to do what’s right; absorb the costs of your errors. Because you aren’t perfect, you will make mistakes. If you are mature enough to regret them, you’ll tend to avoid similar mistakes in the future. No one, when wrong, is so big or so important they can’t apologize to the least. Obviously, you have to make yourself actually mean it. If you don’t hurt when you hurt others, you really need to grow up.

4. Be tolerant. Sure, they did you wrong. And you can tell them, but do it with grace; you can swallow your pride. Don’t sweat small stuff. Some offenses aren’t worth mentioning. Live and let live when you can. Kindness is very powerful, and so are kind people.

5. Force is for serious threats. Nobody will ever be completely satisfied you didn’t use it too soon or too late, but you can develop a sense of minimum necessary force to preserve property, safety and peace. Along with this you need to realize some losses aren’t fixable, and punishment serves no purpose. Recompense by trying to clean up the mess is a justified burden to put on those who threaten the community. The burden is to consider in your mind all the times you’ve seen force used when it worked and when it didn’t, rehearse in your mind how you’ll do it better, and lock it in place. You’ll mess up and regret it, but that’s a lot better than gut reaction, by which you’ll regret a lot more.

6. Walk away. Sometimes you just can’t make it work where you are. Genuine differences are usually something negotiable for the sake of peace, but some things can’t be negotiated. It’s not tucking your tail to run if your departure preserves your sanity and theirs. If you find yourself moving a lot, it’s time for a serious self-inventory. By the same token, beware of those so intensely needy they’ll compromise anything to keep you around for the wrong reason.

7. People can change, but you can’t do it for them. No amount of brilliant study and planning by the wisest minds in the world can create a better society when it depends on controlling people in the sense of making them better. It can’t be done. Mere education of the intellect is not sufficient. People always do things against their better instincts. Change and improvement comes from a deeper desire. Nobody can create that desire for you, nor you for them. You can only encourage it. You’ll always have people around you who just don’t want a better self. Be prepared to deal with them as they are, and always give them reason and room to improve.

The world is full to running over with whining cry-babies. Cultivate the image of a person so mature, no one can really hurt you. This isn’t just good psychology; these are called basic rules of civility. Believe it or not, God actually cares whether you can live up to them. He actively manages this world in favor of people who know how to keep things civil. It won’t get you to Heaven, but it will make things in this life as good as they get.