The 10 commandments (updated)

Hey all,

I recently watched an amazing talk by the author Sam Harris. One of his points was that almost any adult educated person living now, could with 30 seconds consideration, improve the 10 commandments and make Christianity, and therfor the whole...a better place.

He suggested that any Christians in the audience question whether that raised doubts in their minds about how insightful and, Godly their diety is, if a regular person could improve his laws with a few minutes work.

So, I'd invite you all to post your own version of the 10 commandments, and we'll just see if he was right.

Here are the orginal ten, so you have some to work with and can leave some as they are if you like.

I'll post mine later.

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make unto thee any graven image.
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
5. Honour your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness.
10. You shall not covet.

No takers so far eh?

Ok, I'm about to prove that I'm smarter and more insightful than God..and I'm willing to bet someone can do better than both of us.

1. Treat everyone, regardless of their class/religion, skin colour or abilities as an equal and respect them as you would a God.

2. Do not harm another person in word or deed except in defence of yourself or others unable.

3. Earth is your home and you should treat it, plants/animals and everything inbetween with as much respect as you would treat another person.

4. Practice tolerance is every aspect of dealing with your fellow humans.

5. Be as educated and self aware of yourself and others and the planet you live on as you are able to and spread your knowledge freely with those who seek it.

6. Do not steal what does not belong to you.

7. Honour your father and mother, but honour also your larger family which is every other person on the planet.

8. Do not lie to others.

9. Do you very best to make the world around you as happy and equal and heavenly as you are able and support anyone else to contributes to this cause.

10. Love everyone as much as you are able.

Ace, well I made them all up...so clearly I'm doing ok.

Care to write your own version...

I feel like the last six are right on track. They seem to form, more than anything else "holy," some sort of social contract. They delineate boundaries between what can and cannot be permitted within the community. Like the American Constitution, however, I feel like the laws and the interpretations of them need to grow and change even as the world alters. The rules create bonds of trust in a society, all of which keep us out of a "state of nature," and all basically come down to the golden rule of "treat others as you'd want to be treated." Not so much because you are looking to be treated well in the end, but because what's good for you is likely to be good for others. Which is, in the end, what Jesus said. "The greatest of these things is love."

The first four commandments seem to me to be about allowing for the sacred in our lives. Not sullying what is holy, leaving things pure and nourishing and full of Mystery. The specifics come off as being rather prohibitive, but I feel personally that rules like that seem to be set down by humans, more than by a God.

From 5-10, I'm down with the original commandments.

Go on. Prejudice?

Even the commandments posted at the top of this thread may have lost something in the translation

In a mystical sense any healthy code should have the Spirit of God within it

Mother Teresa of Caltuta was thought to have a fondness of the paradoxical commandments

"People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway"
Dr. Kent M Keith

I love what Martina Mcbride did with this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FdB5Adws78

It seems when God became man that He reveals that the law of Moses had many provisions for the hardened hearts that would damand His death
Which are the two great commandments that contain the whole law of God?
The two great commandments that contain the whole law of God are:

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength;
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

("love begins to be a demon the moment he begins to be a god"). is a quote from C.S. Lewis is true in many ways though esoteric

Love has the power of undergoing all things, having faith in all things, hoping all things.
Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things

So Kevin when will you make your commandments a song

Come on you Gods of men and women...do better than I did!

That is a great saying Rikki.

It's too bad GOd didn't have the insight to include that.

Instead he used most of the commandments to make sure everyone worshipped him.

The commandments are badly written.

Imagine how much better the world would be if the commandments directly countered slavery/homophobia/religious intolerance...

Imagine.

Though a Chrstian is supposed to accept the bible as the inspired word of God I will admit that the commandments not countering slavery has always puzzled me considering Moses was leading his people from slavery

Any Christians in the audience question whether that raised doubts in their minds about how insightful and, Godly their diety is, if a regular person could improve his laws with a few minutes work."

The fact that it can be improved today brings to mind the rise of monotheism and subsequently the rise of atheism... Along with voicing out loud the previously unwritten ethics of society...

I'll try to improve it:
Thou shall know there is but one omnipotent architect. This creator took the time to tell you there is one... Creator don't intervene seeing as that would impeach the free will creator gave... However creator reminds

Thou shall remember my name only because I gave you life and free will to revel and see my creations and worship me

Thou shall not take my name in vain... If you got to swear the devil's most suited...Creator don't want to punish you... cause creator is creator and free will ain't going to excuse you...

I'll get to the rest later...Lol

It would be a pretty boring world if everyone treats everyone as they expect to be treated.

Perhaps, though, boredom is a sign of contentedness...a smooth circle with no pointy edges, a constant rhythm, a suspended chord. It's what animals spend most of their time doing.

I guess the bible does contain alot of the ideas I posted in my updated Commandments.

Point is, God had this one big chance to blast down 10 amazing ideas and laws to live by, and what did he used them for?

Don't be dissing my name, be nice to your mother and father (never mind anyone else, like gays, slaves and your wife).

I think he goofed up rather royally and it's really lame that almost anyone can sit down and write more benificial commandments with 30 minutes work.

We're better than God at serving the needs of humanity...so lets all forget his quaint rules and get too it alone.

You are correct, Rikki. But, at the same time, you are not. That is because people are different. I love being treated differently by different kinds of people. I appreciate brutal honesty, I appreciate sugar-coated words, sarcasm, silence, indifference, rage, and even violence.
If you are treating people as you wish to be treated, you only have one scale of measurement: you. I would hesitate to be the measurer, as well as the measure, of all things...not only because of my limited understanding of all things, but also because it would only further limit my understanding of them at all. I have had the most sense knocked into me by the meanest of ways. They were to be remembered.

In general, of course, the Golden Rule is indeed golden, and is at the basis of evolution. But to deviate from it is human- these deviations are usually at the core of the sincerest of spirits.

Anyway, Kevin, if I could command people to follow one thing, it would be to believe that we are a good species. We have been brought up to believe we are selfish, stupid, arrogant, greedy and doomed. We grow up telling this to one another, shaking our heads, shrugging our shoulders, and feeling like we know it all. Well, what can we expect with that? We need faith. We need to believe that we can all rock this joint. That's the way to get the best out of the world.

And we need to believe in Obama. Tell everybody, come on.. you've got to belieeeeeeeve. I feel like singing. You know how to pump me up, Abby. It's all about the faith.
Sorry. I'm laughing. I feel like I'm being disrespectful.

Wait, Kev - are you saying that God Himself wrote down the ten commandments?

Of course God Himself didn't write down the ten commandments... he recited them and one of his servants wrote them down.

Many Christians can give the illusion of following all the commandments all of the time because they don't want their account or covenant with God suspended, or deleted

p.s I will try not to rap in the forums again

Go on Bob, I'm sure we'd love to see your version..

1. Motorbikes are the holy chariots..and if you are female you must dye your hair red or black and dig the leather and steel.

2. Do not mess with Moderators, for they are the truth and the light..

????

Interestingly enough in the new testament jesus only mentions six commandments to go to heaven. and they are all secular in nature not religeous. they are

": but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
19:18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19:19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
19:20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me."

these are all commandments that i think everyone would agree with me would make the world a better place if we followed them. and surprisingly enough there is not one mention of god nor creed in them.

And come on pumpkin. why dont you learn to smile with the rest of us peons. as if you stop taking small things like that so seriously people will then stop teasing you about it. or didnt you learn that in primary school

Topic focus.

Come on you heathens, you part time Christians!..

go full time and do better than god!!

I follow a "religeon" ,as such, that has only one commandment. it is "you have no right but to do as you will" and " love is the law, love under will" . but this dosnt mean a person should go out and just do whatever they please. it is actually the exact opposite of that, it means you should find out who you trully are, both physically and spiritually, and live in complete obedience to that will. alot of people have purposely misconstrued this statement to mean that if a person wants to go out and murder, rape or steal he should be able to with no consequences, but it dosnt. as if i want complete freedom to live my life as i see fit i also have to grant that same freedom to everyone else. because if i take someones life, safety or property then i too deserve to lose any right i have to my own life, safety or property