Golden Rule sucks
I'll start with the silly example. Let's say I like being spanked. So I try it with a young lady I've just met. (Don't tell my wife, she doesn't know. ;) Would she likely be happy that I've done to her as I'd like done to me? Well, if life were like a Hollywood movie she would. Odds are, though, that she likes other stuff better.
So I propose a better rule: Do unto others as they would have done unto them.
We have to fight the terrorists as if there were no rules and preserve our open society as if there were no terrorists. -- [link|http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/05/opinion/BIO-FRIEDMAN.html|Thomas Friedman]