Parents no longer believe in the Golden Rule, and even fewer (14 percent) teach it. As stated in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:12), the Golden Rule teaches people to “do to others what you would have them do to you.” Few phrases have shaped ethical standards as much as this one. Yet the National Parent Survey found that barely over a quarter of today’s parents (28 percent) are familiar with it.

Instead, some social scientists promote the Platinum Rule: “Treat others the way they want to be treated.” The apparent difference between the Golden Rule and the Platinum Rule is the shift from “you” to “they.” Critics claim that the Golden Rule is paternalistic, imposing one’s beliefs and preferences on another, missing the emphasis on personal responsibility in Jesus’ words.

The Platinum Rule, by contrast, teaches that the best way to care for another person is to give him whatever he wants. As Dave Kerpen, author of the book “The Art of People,” said, “When you follow the Platinum Rule you can … assure yourself of a better outcome.” This may seem nice in theory, but this approach makes children vulnerable to manipulation and abuse. It would be easy for an adult to influence a child through the power of suggestion. It’s foolish to take children at their word about what they need or the cause of their discomfort.

The most obvious example is in the realm of “transgender care.” Doctors no longer treat patients based on their own expertise but on the patient’s self-diagnosis.

For example, if a young man enters a gender clinic and says that he’s really a woman, far too many doctors will prescribe puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or sex-mutilation surgeries, failing to examine the confluence of factors that contribute to gender dysphorias such as past abuse, puberty and mental dissociation.

The doctors are treating others as they want to be treated.

Countless detransitioners who regret the irreversible damage done to their body wish that doctors or therapists had cautioned them against hormonal and medical interventions.

Or, in women’s sports, how many women will suffer injuries, lose races and miss out on awards due to adults claiming that there is no difference between a woman and a biological man masquerading as a woman? Everyone suffers when society tries to treat others as they want to be treated. Why? Because this subjective standard is impossible to implement fairly.

The Platinum Rule breaks down when people’s desires contradict one another. Which happens often, especially over time. It leaves parents and lawmakers defenseless against the onslaught of lies from others regarding medical care and women’s sports.

A society that switches the Golden Rule for the Platinum Rule is delusional at best and suicidal at worst. For example, if a young child asks for a motorcycle to drive to school, should a parent give it to them? Of course not — it would be contrary to the child’s good and actively put them in harm’s way.

In practice, the Platinum Rule’s tacit embrace of another person’s desires removes personal responsibility. A doctor, friend or parent isn’t held to an objective standard, or even their own standard. Instead, the Platinum Rule directs people to treat others according to the other’s own, often misguided desires.

As religion declines in the United States, so does a proper understanding of the Golden Rule. Many religious traditions have a version of the Golden Rule, but a brief look at the context of Jesus’ sermon in Matthew 7 will show why the Golden Rule was and is essential for a flourishing society (over and against newer versions like the Platinum Rule).

The Sermon on the Mount discusses the Golden Rule in the context of rightly judging others — a feat that requires one to take responsibility for their faults, desires and actions first — and the importance of giving to others based on their needs. The Golden Rule occurs after these two points as the “so what” culmination of Jesus’ teaching.

In short, the Golden Rule addresses how one gives (generously) to other people.

It’s time for parents and society to rehabilitate the Golden Rule. This age-old ethic creates a society that values personal responsibility for one’s actions; it frees people from the whims of others to stand firm in their work to protect athletes and children.

Only then can parents, pastors, doctors, therapists and political leaders care for other people by providing them with the care they need to flourish, especially saying “no” to destructive lies about one’s biological sex.