To state what are expected of me in this course
To explain the importance of rules
INTRODUCTION:
Everywhere you go are rules at home, at school, in church, in the barangay. Do these rules make our life more difficult and so should be eliminated or do these rules make our life more peaceful and orderly? Imagine your life, your home, your school, your Church and community without rules. In this Lesson, we'll study about the importance of rules.
ACTIVITY
1. Go over the course syllabus in Appendix A. Pay particular attention to what is required and expected from you.
2. Clarify points that need to be clarified with your Instructor/ Professor.
ANALYSIS
What if there were no rules? What are possible consequences? Are rules important? Why or why not? Do you find them constricting? Why or why not?
Rules are important to social beings. Just imagine the chaos that results from the absence of rules. What happens when students and professors alike come to school in any attire they want? Imagine what happens when in the classroom everyone wants to talk at the same time. Let's go out of the classroom for more examples. Rules can be expanded to include the Philippine Constitution and other laws. What if there were no Constitution and other laws of the land?
Rules are meant to set order. Rules (the Philippine Constitution and other laws included) are meant for man. The greatest Teacher, Jesus Christ, preached emphatically, "The Sabbath is made for man and not man for the Sabbath". The law of the Sabbath, i.e. to keep it holy and observe rest, is meant to make man whole by resting and by giving him time to thank and spend time in prayer and worship for his own good.
For the sake of order in society, everyone is subject to rules. In a democratic country like the Philippines, we often hear the statement "No one is above the law," including the highest official of the country. We are all subject to rules or else court chaos.
Rules are not meant to restrict your freedom. They are meant to help you grow in freedom, to grow in your ability to choose and do what is good for you and for others. If there are rules or laws that restrict your ability or strength to do good, they are suffocating laws and they are not good laws. They ought to be abolished. Any rule or law that prevents human persons from doing and being good ought to be repealed. They have no reasons to exist.
ln fact, if you are a rule or a law-abiding citizen, you don't even feel the restricting presence of a rule or law because you do what the law or what the rule states everybody should do. Looking from a higher point of view, this is the state when one acts not because rules demand it but because one sees he has to act that way. It is like saying one no longer needs the rule or law because one has become mature and wise enough to discern what ought to be done. This is an ideal state which the ancient Chinese sages (Confucius, Lao Tzu) referred to as state of no-more rules, no-more laws, because people discern what is right or good and do what is right or good without thinking or a rule or law; people are no longer in need of a government because they can govern themselves. It is a state where one owns the moral standard not just abide by the moral standard.
The Sabbath is made for man and not man for the Sabbath. What does this mean? Illustrate with an example.
Rules/laws are made for the good of man. State the good that is derived from the following school rules:
1. No ID, No Entry
2. Student/Teacher Tardiness beyond 15 minutes means absence
3. Any form of cheating is punishable with suspension.
4. Use of illegal drug is punishable with dismissal.
3. Give an example of a constricting rule or law. What should be done with it?
4. The ancient Chinese sage named Lao Tsu taught: "Leave the people to themselves, no laws and inner goodness will flourish." "The more laws and commands there are, the more thieves and robbers will be." Do you agree? Why or why not?
Why are rules important?
SUMMARY
Rules are meant to set order In society.
Rules are Intended for human persons. They are not meant to limit a person's freedom, which Is the ability to choose and do what is good. Rather rules are meant to help persons choose and do what is good.
Those who do what's good don't even feel the presence of a rule that prevents them from doing what is not good. It is those who Intend to do the opposite of what is good that feel the suffocating and limiting presence of a rule. When society is ideal, i.e. when all persons are good and do only what is ideal then there will be no more need for rules and laws according to Lao Tzu.