10 Commandments Revisited

One of my earliest blog posts was an analysis of the commonly quoted version of the 10 commandments, this post will be my attempt at 10 rules to live by that would provide far better moral guidance.

1. Treat others how they wish to be treated, if you do not know turn to No.2.

2. Treat others as you would wish to be treated (unless you know that for some reason they would not appreciate it).

3. If there is still any ambiguity just don't be a dick.

4. Do not discriminate against others for any reason (unless they are applying for a position that it can be clearly demonstrated they are unable to adequately fill eg a blind bus driver)

5. Do not accept claims of any significance without sufficient evidence, but accept the claim if suitable evidence is provided.

6. Do not commit logical fallacies or other intellectual dishonesty when debating with others.

7. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, however insane, just as long as they do not lead to stupid actions but if you publicly voice your beliefs be prepared to defend them.

8. Do not sacrifice privacy for security, the level of control granted to the government will be too easy to abuse should a git ever attain power.

9. Develop science to cure disease, prevent poverty and just generally improve life for everyone.

Since I am struggling to find enough things to fill the list we will assume this list is intended as a direct replacement for the biblical version so
10. I am the lord your god, please follow the religious practices outlined elsewhere in this text(they would also need rewriting).

The first three cover a huge variety of restrictions such as don't murder, don't steal, don't lie, don't rape, probably shouldn't commit adultery either, slavery is bad, so is assault, and so on but also cover social things such as showing respect for others and just generally being nice. Most prohibitions also come with a clause of without just cause such as a homeless man stealing food to survive would be morally ok even though to avoid ambiguity it would need to remain legally wrong. But some such as slavery and rape are ALWAYS WRONG, also not all crimes are equal. eg murder needs a legal penalty adultery doesn't.

This is just something I have thrown together in 20 minutes so it could probably be improved on but I still think it is in a different league to the Biblical version.

10 Comandments

Me and some friends were in the pub the other night and somehow we ended up with one of them implying the 10 commandments were a good moral code, I objected stating that half of them were just about how to worship, I was challenged to name them but admittedly couldn't and said id get back to him. So now I have done the research and thought it would make a good blog entry to analyse them.

ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'

Who to worship, no moral guidance.

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

Technically that sounds like no sculptures but its generally understood as no worsiping idols, either way nothing about morals here.

THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'

No blasphemy, again nothing moral.

FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'

An arbitrary rule, nothing moral about that.

FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.'

On the surface reasonable, but on further thought being in a position of power does not immediately mean you deserve respect, even your 'superiors' should have to earn your respect by being both effective in their position and being good people.

SIX: 'You shall not murder.'

Certainly good moral advice, but common sense and under certain extreme circumstances permissible.

SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.'

Another I agree with, good moral guidance but again I suspect most people know it to be wrong without needing a book to tell them, even the people guilty of it.

EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.'

Also good on the surface but again I would consider it permissible in rare cases.

NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'

Morally sound, but again it seems obvious, don't try and get people in trouble with there friends/co-workers/the legal system for shits and giggles, it makes you a knob-goblin.

TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'

Sounds to me like its telling you not to desire or want anything, while it may make you miserable/jealous not actually immoral on its own.

So basically 1-4 are who/how to worship, 5 will come naturally if the targets deserve it, 6-9 on the whole following them will make you a more moral person but the same conclusions can be reached through non religious means 10 good advice, to a degree but not morals.

Out of the 10 commandments only 4 offer moral guidance and an additional 1 is sort of good advice for a happy life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments Where I found them, if your not happy with it find your own source and compare to this article