We need to “love our neighbors” and find ways to demonstrate both individually and collectively our commitment to “The Golden Rule.” While Jesus Christ famously shared the Golden Rule in his “Sermon on the Mount,” the golden rule is an ethic of reciprocity which has support within other religious, spiritual, and philosophical traditions outside of Christianity.
‘So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. ‘
In her April 8, 2025, article for The Guardian, “Loathe thy neighbor: Elon Musk and the Christian right are waging war on empathy,” Julia Carrie Wong highlights the disturbing and heretical (from a Christian perspective) values of current leaders within the executive branch of the United States whose actions promote a toxic, perverted and destructive value system standing in stark opposition to the Golden Rule, to “do unto others” with care, compassion and empathy.
Resurrection Church of Kansas City, led by Reverend Adam Hamilton, has launched a variety of social media and grassroots campaigns before and following US elections in November 2024 with the goals of supporting the Golden Rule and encouraging us to love our neighbors. These campaigns are a direct response to rising levels of political polarization and animosity between citizens and voters in the United States. Background and resources for these campaigns are available on:
- The Campaign for Kindness website: campaignforkindness.com
- The Resurrection Church Kindness / Love Your Neighbor campaign website: resurrection.church/kindness/
- The ShareChurch website (maintained by Resurrection Church – includes 20 assets available after logging in / joining the website for free)
Back on May 1, 2024, my spouse and I heard Adam Hamilton speak in person here in Charlotte, North Carolina, at Myers Park Methodist Church. I shared a reflection about his presentation at the time on Facebook, but that post is set to “friends only” and I don’t think I can change the privacy setting. I may re-post that publicly at some point. It was a powerful presentation for many reasons, including the fact that United Methodists voted overwhelmingly that week to repeal their denominational ban on allowing LGBTQ+ people from serving as church clergy.
As I wrestle with the ways I could and want to respond to the contentious and destructive decisions of current US politicians to dismantle DEI initiatives and promote a cultural worldview and value system which is openly racist, sexist / mysogonistic, and rooted in white supremacy, I’m reminded of the “Love Your Neighbor” and “Do Unto Others” campaigns from Resurrection Church which push back against those values.
In the past year, I’ve started the Heal Our Culture Project, the “Resist and Heal” campaign, and a personal Patreon channel I call, “Dangerous Ideas with Wes Fryer: human rights, democratic norms, tolerance, and media literacy.” (I’m up to 111 posts on Patreon now, and you can join / subscribe for free or choose to support my work!) Each of these websites and media sharing channels are motivated by my desire to speak out, take action, and not remain passive in the face of rising fascism as well as heretical Christian Nationalism in these United States.
Two years ago, Shelly and I participated as students in Reverend Ben Boswell‘s 10 week online course, “Confronting Whiteness,” which was both eye opening for us and personally transformative for me. As part of our coursework, I created an initial iteration of my own “racial autobiography” and shared it on YouTube. I think this kind of work as well as sharing on social media is important and powerful, and something I want to continue through my “Storychasing Racial Healing” project.
I’m thinking today about the possibility of starting an “affinity group” for faculty and staff at our school around the theme of “Do Unto Others” or “Love Your Neighbor.” There is a great deal of fear today when it comes to speaking out about values like human rights and social justice, which seems crazy to me. These are values MANY people in our nation and world share, but sadly, some people “with powerful megaphones today” do not.
As human beings generally and educators specifically, we have an enduring need for COMMUNITY and opportunities to share, engage in dialog, and listen to each other process change and LIFE in SAFE spaces. I want to help facilitate the provision of these kinds of opportunities for my colleagues at school, and for myself. So I’m thinking about my options.
What do you think?
(This article is also shared on SubStack)
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