Forum:The Ten Commandments

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As you might known I am an atheist. And it is often said that the quickest way to make an atheist is by letting a theist read their horrible disgusting scripture/literature. Which brings me to the ten commandments which for many is seen as a moral guide, however there is one problem with them namely that half of the commandments are not moral but are authoritarian and are there to stroke god's ego.

Here is how they normally occur:

And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

1 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
3 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
4 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
5 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
6 Thou shalt not kill.
7 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8 Thou shalt not steal.
9 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

This however is not how they originally were or meant to be, if you actually read the bible you will see they don't particularly care about do not kill and do not steal. Also there is no mention of either rape or slavery since according to the bible they are perfectly all right.

So this is how the real ten commandments actually are supposed to be if they were honest:

1 Thou shall have no other gods before me, other gods are false and ?devils?
2 Thou shall not make any image of thy lord god
3 Thou shall not take the name of god thy lord in vain under the threat of death
4 Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy, punish all those who no adhere hereby.
5 Honour thou father and thou mother as thou honour they lord
6 Thou shall not kill any of your own people, kill your foreigners and consider everyone who does not hold to me a foreigner
7 Thou shall not commit adultery with one of your own, use a foreigner instead let them help you quench your thirst
8 Thou shall not take your own people possessions, take the ones from those who deny your lord god.
9 Thou shall not bear false witness against your own, don't take the testimony of a foreigner to be true.
10 Thou shall not cover your fellows property, invade foreign lands and instead claim what is rightfully yours since the earth was given to you by your lord go.

Whether you take the first version or the second none of them are moral or right.

Watch these comedians/commentators explain it and have a laugh at their expense also remember blasphemy is a victimless crime:

Commedians (not only about the 10 commandments)

Commentators

Now can we think up 10 better ones, using modern day morality which is secular, and the answer is yes we can.

So here are mine 10 commandments based on the ones you heard in the videos above here.

01 Thou shall not enslave, torture, rape or kill your fellow human beings, under whatever circumstance.
02 Thou shall not discriminate on any and all basis’s.
03 Thou shall keep thy religion to thyself.
04 Do not condemn people for their inborn nature, even if their inborn nature happens to be genetically factually harmful to society only judge people based on their actions and act with kindness accordingly to their actions.
05 Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you and hand out respect only to those who truly have earned it.
06 Do not stand by idly when harm and suffering is done, act and speak out against it.
07 Test all things; always check your ideas against the facts, and be ready to discard even a long cherished beliefs if it does not conform to them.
08 Stand up against all those who seek to cause harm to other people.
09 Help your fellow man whenever you can and with whatever you can, don’t live for yourself, live for your fellow man.
10 Stand up for freedom of speech, and do not force those around you to act against their will.

Maybe you can improve on them or make your own. Lets get a conversation going. OnePieceNation (talk) 15:40, January 24, 2014 (UTC)

This is a great post, but it's also very idealistic. Many of these revisions go against our beastly natures.

Commandment 1 is idealistic. Dominance and servitude are inevitable in society. Even today, though it isn't called "slavery" because one can be paid for their work, some jobs are nothing more than slavery under another name.
Commandment 2 is impractical. Everyone discriminates, even though it's wrong. It's natural for people to form groups and exclude others from them.
Commandment 3 goes against religious practices. The point of religion is unification and social control. It has to be widespread.
Commandment 4 is impossible. Inborn nature is only present in infancy. Everything after that is learned.
Commandment 5 would aggravate others' egos. This is more of a personal rule than one that everyone should follow.
Commandment 6 potentially opens others to harm and isolation. Not everyone wants to be a hero, regardless of justice.
Commandment 7 is important for personal growth, but bad for societies and groups. Faith is necessary in most organized groups, so too many questions could cause fracture.
Commandment 8 is unlikely. Many people enjoy causing harm to others. Most people do not wield any power.
Commandment 9 is beautiful, but man is selfish. Social Darwinism is the law.
Commandment 10 would be rejected for the same reasons as 1, 6, and 7. Mankind's intellectual nature will always lose to our beastly natures.

The 10 Commandments were created for social control, which is important in any society. Differing ideas will lead to conflict, which is why Christianity was so aggressively forced upon the world. The creators had good intentions--mankind's preservation.L44021 (talk) 04:07, January 25, 2014 (UTC)