Reply #76: Reciprocity is the "merest moral truism"

[ChadwickHenryWard]

according to Chomsky. We should not be surprised that it exists in many places. If a system of morality is to be logical, it has to include reciprocity - the same rules must apply to everybody (barring some logical reason why different rules must apply in different situations.) However, most religious systems of morality are not, strictly speaking, logical, and thus include plenty of other ideas that contradict in some way the "Golden Rule." Further, I'm not sure it's entirely accurate to say that it is the "core" of most religions. It may be present in most of them, but that does not mean that it is the most important concept within them. As I said, it should be the principle on which the rest of the moral system is based, but that doesn't mean it always is.

And I don't know what you mean when you say the New Testament has got "off track."