I have written a number of times about how quite a few religious people have expressed support for The No Asshole Rule, despite the mild obscenity in the title. My favorite example is still from Richard Beck, who used ideas from the book to lead a discussion in his bible studies class about 1 Corinthians, which he concluded by saying 1 Corinthians means "Basically, don’t be an asshole."
I was pleased — and am now less surprised — to see some nice words op-up today on a Jewish and a Christian web site. Pastor Scott Stiegmeyer, who I think is director of admissions of a "pastoral ministry in the Lutheran Church" put in a good word for the book. And a blog called the Dallas Reconstructionist, which is "Devoted to Living and Promoting Reconstructionist Judaism in DFW" drew some interesting parallels between ideas in the book and Jewish principles:
‘One of the central points of the book was that the main test of
whether a person is a "certified a-hole" is how they treat the weak.
If a person bullies the weak, they fall into the a-hole category.
As I pondered this a-hole litmus test, I thought of how "the weak"
can be found at all levels in an organization. Some employees may have
bosses that are weak in oral communication or in delegating properly.
So, rank within an organization shouldn’t be the test for who is
considered "weak." Some people may be strong in most areas but
critically weak in one or two.
Also, I started thinking about how this principle of treating the
weak with kindness is definitely a Jewish principle. The Torah
mentions kindness to the stranger (who could be considered in a
weakened state) repeatedly. The Torah also mentions visiting the sick
and acts of loving kindness.
I assert that the starting point for treating the weak with kindness
is realizing that we are all human and have faults. We should also
treat ourselves kindly when it comes to our own weak areas.‘
This sounds right to me! And I confess that I wasn’t surprised to see this discussion, as I have finally overcome my misguided beliefs that most religious people would reject the book because of the title. Now I am thinking about making some more direct parallels between the no asshole rule and the golden rule — indeed, I once talked to a German journalist from a Christian magazine who argued that the two rules are quite similar.
Leave a Reply