The Ten Commandments! or The Ten Suggestions? …

Religion is part and parcel of humanity. Interestingly, no one knows how many religions there are in the world today. ?There is no number that is even near accurate. There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions, some say 4,000, but all of them have sub-sets of various variations and it depends on where the dividing line is between variations of a major religion. So, for a working number one could say, well, 1, 2, 3, a lot. The accuracy there leaves much to be desired. The major groups in order of size are Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism. So, which one is the real one, the correct one? Who knows? Well, part of the problem is that everyone knows! But one, only one, is correct? And the other part of the problem, 99% of it, is that depending on who you ask, almost all of them live by what they believe is the correct interpretation of messages, their religion, that were sent to them from God. And this, of course, leads to disagreements, and sometimes war!

Christianity is the largest religion at this time and the major religion in the United States. This is the religion that its subjects are working hard at making it the “official” religion of the US. I think we will still be able to house a few of the other religions, but they probably wouldn’t get official government sanction. Christianity, however, would be in every public school and on almost every street corner. Already, the Ten Commandments are interviewing for a presence in public schools. Although I grew up saying the Lord's Prayer every day in public school, I don’t think the public schools of today need that kind of religious intrusion. So, I think that if it is necessary to have 10 suggestions for a good life to be present in public schools, it should not be the Ten Commandments. It should be something else, like The Ten Suggestions.

As a reminder: These are the 10 commandments from the King James version of the Bible

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 labor, 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 neighbor’s."

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Yes, of course, you’ve read all the 10 commandments before, many times, perhaps even memorized them during those early days in Sunday School when the actual meaning of this accumulation of words was obscure. And again and again, as a Christian life progresses through puberty, teenage times, and eventually, even if you are not there yet, hopefully, the time will come when the biological links in your chain of life have circled, and you have reproduced. And then you may pass on to the next generation the teachings of past centuries on the existence and meaning of human life. When life is in the arms of religion, all aspects of life must pass through the false golden arms of religious belief and religious community camaraderie. And if the religion is Christianity, there before you in public schools, are the Ten Commandments to guide the direction of your life. ??

You may strive to live according to these commandments, or you may admire them but dismiss them as a fundamental part of a religion of human origin that was, and is, forcibly inserted into human lives. Lives that should be based on science, reality, and truth.? Yes, I’ve been there and done that…

But because of the recent hoo-ha of forcing Christianity into public schools through the forced posting of the Ten Commandments, I took another look at the substance of these directions for life, and some of them are true, and important to the conduct of a good life, religious or not. Just because the Ten Commandments are born and raised in Christianity does not mean that their birth in the bowels of this religion is totally without value. So, what would the Ten Commandments be like if their rationale was the recognition and improvement of the common foundations of humanity rather than aiding the establishment and power of the religion of Christianity? And perhaps creating a list of “suggestions” rather than commandments might be meaningful and helpful in guiding human life in the absence of a supernatural-based religion. Such a guideline could be meaningful and useful in many aspects of human life. There are many ramifications to such a concept. So, I’ll give it a try with the antithesis of modern religions presented in the same structure as the Christian religion’s 10 commandments. I’ll use the “Thou shalt” introduction. More interesting that way.

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The 10 suggestions: For Agnosticism, Atheism, and all Religions

1. Thou shalt treat all religions and lack of religion, with respect but not with false belief. (Unless that is necessary to save one’s life.)

2. Thou shalt not recognize the myth of a jealous god, or any impossible and unnatural supernatural entity as actually existing in human form or in any form and as having no internal or external supernatural effect on the existence of any human. The comradery of religion, however, is good and beneficial to many humans and should be recognized as such when that religion is not used to degrade and/or harm those of other religions or no religion.

3. Human life is extensive throughout the planet and people of all religions and no religions should equally value and recognize human existence and the human right to have and maintain different religious beliefs as well as supernatural beliefs, and no religious beliefs, and all must do no harm other humans.

4. Religious and non-religious beliefs are many and varied. All are to be granted the right to practice their religion and their beliefs without degradation, violence, or legal denial of practice. Nor should any religion in any way control or deny the existence of any other religion or any religious practice that respects and does not ridicule or injure those that practice a different religion or no religion.

5. Family, not religion, is the basis of humanity. No religion should control, disallow, or prohibit the existence of family or control or deny non-destructive family religious practice; or grant the right of any family or individual to disavow, change, or create any religious belief for their own purpose of accumulating wealth and/or political power. Worshiping the grace and power of religion, and the right of denial of any religion in any family is to be respected.

6. Thou shalt not kill will be a law for religions and all human organizations. Unfortunately, when this law is broken or the threat of death is unmistakable, and there is no other resource for protection from violence, then protection by forceable prevention and retaliation may be necessary and acceptable.

7. The family should be respected and valued according to the precepts of the family. However, it should be understood that humanity is not perfect, and violence cannot be the answer to family strife.

8. Thou shall not steal. The unlawful taking of any rightful possessions or rights and property from individuals or organizations shall not be tolerated by either religions, organizations, or governments. Crimes against humanity must not be tolerated.

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbors, or any other humans or organizations, despite possible rewards from other individuals, governments, companies, schools, churches, or family. (This is perhaps the most difficult of suggestions to resist because of apparent righteous causes. The choice must be made between what is right and what is beneficial. The adage “Do unto others what you have them do unto you.” This is difficult to follow and rewards for doing so are rare, but it is the right thing to do.) ???

10. The desire to have what others have, covet, for everything valuable in life is strong and difficult to ignore, but the reward for aiding your neighbors in their time of stress is far greater and appreciated than the regret that builds from coveting the possessions of others. So as your religion may declare; “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s." The results of coveting behavior are usually detrimental to all concerned.

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So, removing the apparent demands of a supernatural entity that cannot be proven to exist from the rules and/or suggestions on how to live within the bounds of a religious civilization; is a different way of thinking about the demands of religion, and how the effects of satisfying these demands through religious commandments can affect human behavior. There is, within the commands of Christianity’s Ten Commandments, the effect of placing the existence and power of a single religion above the meaning, value, and presence of all other religions. And, in some situations, take rejection of other religions, or lack of religion, to the point of violence, murder, and war with those that follow other religions, especially those that reject the false reality of a supernatural religion.

Analysis and evaluation are beneficial; commandments and forceful rejection are divisive and dangerous. Sometimes compassionate acceptance of a different path is taken and sometimes that path is rejected, and anger and violence are employed. I’m sure that this concept can be described much better than my meanderings. If we, all humanity, are to survive and continue to improve our environment and our relationships centuries from now, we must develop the methods and the basis of our planetary relationships with all humanity. Our technology must be controlled; there will have to be a universal acceptance of a plan for the present and the future of all humanity. Not just for those countries that claim superiority.

But for now, this is how it was, and unfortunately, this is how it still is. I will close with a poem.

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What is real to one, is false to another,

The needs of one, are not the needs of another.

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Religious indoctrination of one at an early age,

Is fiction to another taught to demand reality.

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Reality has many masks, but some are false,

analysis and common sense reveal them for what they are.

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Martin Moe