EXOD777 Because the biblical ideals of charity, love of neighbor, and the sanctity of human life have for so long pervaded the Western world influencing people such as Bertrand Russell ... [thus, Russell, a lifelong political dissident, used to recall the words written on the flyleaf of his parents' family Bible [this verse)], people often don't realize that these notions came into the world through the doctrine of ethical monotheism introduced by the Hebrew Bible more than 3,000 years ago. But take away the divine foundations for teachings such as "Love your neighbor as yourself" (the basis for the Golden Rule), and they make no sense. As John Locke wrote in 1690: "Should that most unshaken rule of morality and foundation of all social virtue, 'That one should do as he would be done unto,' be proposed to one who has never heard of it before… may he not without any absurdity ask the reason why?" (Essay Concerning Human Understanding).