1. Helping Others and Caring for Others Is the Fundamental Ethic of Human Life

World Scripture

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6.2

Rendering help to another is the function of all human beings.
Tattvarthasutra 5.21 (Jainism)

Above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. Practice hospitality ungrudgingly to one another. As each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.
1 Peter 4.8-10

All men are responsible for one another.
Talmud, Sanhedrin 27b (Judaism)

The best of men are those who are useful to others.
Hadith of Bukhari (Islam)

Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.
1 Corinthians 10.24

Be kind to parents, and the near kinsman, and to orphans, and to the needy, and to the neighbor who is of kin, and to the neighbor who is a stranger, and to the companion at your side, and to the traveler, and to [slaves] that your right hands own. Surely God loves not the proud and boastful such as are niggardly, and bid other men to be niggardly, and themselves conceal the bounty that God has given them.
Qur’an 4.36-47

Until now each and every one throughout the world has been concerned only with himself. How pitiful it is! You have no mind to help others, however hard you may think it over. Henceforth, ceaselessly strive to restore your mind! I, God (Tsukihi), request it from you all equally. If you ask what kind of mind it is, it is the mind to save single-heartedly all people of the world. Henceforth, if only all people of the world equally help each other on any and every matter, believe that I will accept your minds and will work any and every kind of salvation!
Ofudesaki 12.89-94 (Tenrikyo)

Do not seek to benefit only yourself, but think of other people also. If you yourself have abundance, do not say, “The others do not concern me, I need not bother about them!” If you were lucky in hunting, let others share it. Show them the favorable spots where there are many sea lions that can be easily slain.

Let others have their share occasionally. If you want to amass everything for yourself, other people will stay away from you and no one will want to be with you.

If you should one day fall ill, no one will visit you because, for your part, you did not formerly concern yourself about others. Grant other people something also. The Eskimo do not like a person who acts selfishly.
Yamana Eskimo Initiation (Native American Religions)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

The essence of love is to live for the sake of others instead of waiting for others to serve you. This is different from what passes for love in the secular world. Therefore, religion teaches to live for the sake of others—to be obedient, to serve and to sacrifice.
(46:42, July 18, 1971)

Altruism—investing oneself for others, for the nation and for the world, living a life of sacrifice and service to others—may be considered by today’s society to be a most foolish philosophy of life. As you come to understand the deepest truths, however, you will understand that altruism is the secret to living in eternal happiness and the way most beneficial to human beings.
(198:163, February 1, 1990)

It is a principle that those who invest themselves for the sake of others and live for the sake of their partners will go to heaven. Because educational philosophies and cultural traditions throughout history have taught this idea, the planet Earth has been preserved at least to its current extent.
(69:86, October 20, 1973)

The way of true love can never be found without a partner to live for.
(398:284, December 15, 2002)

Live a broad and grand life on earth to be on the track to heaven. Live for others. Invest repeatedly and forget what you have invested. Love and forget, and continue to love infinitely because you were born to live for others.
(306:215, September 23, 1998)

Who is a good person? Not someone who wishes that others would obey him. No, a good person is one who lives for the whole. Don’t family members agree on who is the most promising and best-natured child in the family? From grandparents to cousins, if you ask them they will say, “Yes, that one gives the most.” Undoubtedly that child is not the one who always asks his grandfather to please him. Rather, although he is a little child, he always considers how to behave and how to serve in order to make his grandfather happy. Day and night he tries to help all his family members, even cousins and in-laws. That child is undoubtedly a grandson on whom the family can place great hope.
(174:11-12, February 23, 1988)

The universe was created by investing, based on love for the sake of others. Hence, when a person lives for the sake of others, he aligns himself with the original activity of creation, and this brings him into oneness with God. This person will not perish, because God will never perish. He will surely become an owner of the universe, because God is the Owner of the universe. Seen this way, it is clear that the person who lives for the sake of others becomes a central figure.
(270:165, May 29, 1995)

I know that the American people respect individualism. However, individualism that lost sight of relationships between subject and object partners cannot endure. That is why America has reached a blind alley. How can we save America? We have to remind her of the essence of the Christian life, which is God’s original way of life. There is no other way. In this sense, even though you do not welcome Reverend Moon, you need him. He teaches God’s principle: You individuals should live for your families, families for your communities, communities for your nation, your nation for the world, and the world for God.
(69:88, October 20, 1973)