Does the Term “Karma” Reflect the Golden Rule?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday is the fact that what goes around comes around. According to Victor Davis Hanson, this is “karma” in Eastern philosophy and religion. In Christianity, it is known as the “Golden Rule” – “Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.” 

Hanson also discussed the danger of going too far in one direction “because there’s a force in the universe that corrects us and brings us back to the middle.” He said that this condition is called “the golden mean” in classical terms. He used the corruption seen in the American judicial system by four prosecutors over the last five years to what is happening now.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Georgia, who is trying to magnify a phone call that President Donald Trump made to the registrars into some type of RICO corruptive act. And it was not. And that case has been dropped.

We saw District Attorney Alvin Bragg in Manhattan try to bootstrap a federal offense – that the federal prosecutors did not want to prosecute – on a nondisclosure form and clam it was a campaign donation.

We saw former special counsel Jack Smith with the records. And that was asymmetrical because at the same time they were investigating former President Joe Biden for essentially the same crime and let him off.

And then we had New York Attorney General Letitia James on the real estate deal where she created, kind of, new laws that had never existed before on minor details about forms on real estate applications, about a loan to the Deutsche Bank that didn’t – they were happy.

But my point is this: They have exceeded what the Greeks called “hubris.” They were arrogant. They were overweening. They were self-righteous….

And what do we find out now? Jack Smith, the federal prosecutor, before he left his tenure, he went to the Covington law firm… and asked and received $140,000 of free legal services. Did he pay taxes on that? That’s above the gift tax….

Fani Willis, well, she was removed from the case, as you know, with her paramour – that she did not disclose – Nathan Wade, whom she made her lead prosecutor. They went on junkets. They didn’t record their expenses. Half of them, perhaps came from Nathan Wade’s wages that were inflated by Fani Willis. She wouldn’t turn over subpoenaed records. The court forced her to pay a fine of $54,000. They took her, as I said, off the case. Now she’s facing an investigative inquiry by the Georgia legislator. She’s in big trouble.

And then we get to Letitia James. She was the most confident and kept giving us soapbox lectures about, “No one is above the law.” It turns out that for years she was fudging on her real estate investments in an illegal fashion. But because Nemesis always deals in irony, some of the forms that she exaggerated on or lied about were the same things that she alleged that Donald Trump had done on his forms. But clearly, Donald Trump had a much better case, so far, that he didn’t do that.

She said an apartment unit had fewer rooms than it did. She said that her principal residence was in Virginia when, in fact, she was the New York district attorney, by statute she must live in New York those five years. The house that she purchased she’s not living in now. She listed her father as her husband. What am I getting at? She’s committing the same type of fraud that she’s alleging Donald Trump did.

I’ll just finish with, remember Stacey Abrams? She was the one that denied she lost the 2018 gubernatorial race. She lost by 50,000 votes. She lost it again to Brian Kemp in 2022 by even more, a greater margin.

She had a PAC or some kind of nonprofit, it had a hundred dollars in it. Then suddenly, when Biden’s on his way out of office, almost $2 billion go under her direction. And now we’re learning that she was giving millions of dollars away, bought a beautiful home, and suddenly went from bankruptcy and owing the IRS and not paying her taxes 2016 – she’s a millionaire. That’s going to be investigated.

Bottom line: Be very careful…. And no one is above the law. And all of these people felt that they were above the law. And that invisible hand of Nemesis, or God, or karma struck them down. And it’s a good lesson for all of us.

Are You Capable of Living the Golden Rule?

             For my Come, Follow Me studies this week, I have been studying the book of Mormon. After the great ancient American prophet Mormon compiled the Nephite records as he had been commanded, he proceeded to write his own book. He began by telling us that he was chosen as a boy of ten years old to be the caretaker of all the records. However, he was not to take possession of the plates of Nephi until he was 24 years old.

            Meanwhile, Mormon became the leader of the armies before he was 16 years old, and the Nephites and Lamanites were warring against each other for decades. As he started to write his book, the Nephites were fighting a losing war, and the Lamanites were driving them from place to place. Despite their losses, the Nephites were prideful and would not repent.

            Chapter 3 begins with the Lord commanding Mormon to “Cry unto this people – Repent ye, and come unto me, and be ye baptized, and build up again my church, and ye shall be spared” (Mormon 3:2). Mormon was obedient in crying repentance, “but it was in vain” (Mormon 3:3).

            Mormon wrote that the Nephites “did not realize that it was the Lord that had spared them, and granted unto them a chance for repentance. And behold they did harden their hearts against the Lord their God” (Mormon 3:3).

            Years passed, and the Nephites became ever more boastful. They became so wicked that Mormon refused to be their leader. Instead, he stood by as a witness to their destruction. Nevertheless, Mormon loved his people.

Behold, I had led them, notwithstanding their wickedness I had led them many times to battle, and had loved them, according to the love of God which was in me, with all my heart; and my soul had been poured out in prayer unto my God all the day long for them; nevertheless, it was without faith, because of the hardness of their hearts (Mormon 3:12).

            Mormon did not agree with the way that most of the Nephites were living, but he still loved them. This is a lesson that Americans need right now because of the loud and angry words of the presidential election. Mormon showed us that we can love people even though we disagree with them. This is the same message that the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been teaching for many years. Then-Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave the following counsel in the October 2014 General Conference (“Loving Others and Living with Differences,” Ensign, November 2014, p. 27).

We should all follow the gospel teachings to love our neighbor and avoid contention. Followers of Christ should be examples of civility. We should love all people, be good listeners, and show concern for their sincere beliefs. Though we may disagree, we should not be disagreeable. Our stands and communications on controversial topics should not be contentious. We should be wise in explaining and pursuing our positions and in exercising our influence. In doing so, we ask that others not be offended by our sincere religious beliefs, and the free exercise of our religion. We encourage all of us to practice the Savior’s Golden Rule: “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).

When our positions do not prevail, we should accept unfavorable results graciously and practice civility with our adversaries.

            The presidential election will be over in a few days, and only one of the candidates will emerge as the winner. The supporters of the winner should be humble and gracious in their victory, and the supporters of the loser should be accepting of the vote by the majority. The only way that the great divide in our nation will ever be breached is by individual people extending the hand of kindness and acceptance to each other. The Savior’s Golden Rule will work as well today as it should have worked in the day that He taught it.