It may look like another of David Letterman’s top 10 lists
but the Ten Commandments are no laughing matter. It is seen as THE foundation
upon which morality is based and there are numerous places in the United States
where the commandments are highly displayed, even here in the city of La
Crosse. But should the Ten Commandments be the yardstick upon which we judge
the morality of others? I don’t believe so. I think there are a number of flaws
with the commandments and as a result, we should all strive to look at a new
set of commandments, one that fits in with today’s diverse society.
First of all, one of the big problems is that the Ten Commandments
is a list of “Thou Shalt Nots”. In my experience as a parent, telling a kid not
to do something is nowhere near as effective as telling that child to do
something instead. Most parenting books these days will tell you that as well.
We also saw how well this worked in Genesis.
Next, let’s look at the first few commandments that
specifically look at worshiping God. While understandable in the process of
setting up a very homogenous nation of the ancient world, that’s not the case
today. Not only is the US rather diverse religion-wise, but the rest of the
world is as well. Therefore, these 3 or 4 commandments (different religions
have variations on the numbering of the commandments themselves) strike an ‘us
against them’ chord which is completely at odds with having a peaceful world.
In fact, many of these Ten Commandment monuments went up during a time of great
discord: The Cold War, a time where the United was strongly against anyone who
might at all agree with the ideas of communism even going so far as to say that
atheists were a threat. This was not a time of peace. It was a time when
differences were considered a threat. And one of those differences had to do
with which god one worshipped or did not worship.
Honor thy Mother and
thy Father. Why the focus on them? Why not honor those who are older and
wiser? Why not honor those in authority? Was mother and father chosen for a
particular reason? Was God’s own failure in Genesis to get his children to
honor Him by not eating from the tree of knowledge the reason behind this
particular commandment?
Thou shalt not kill.
Why isn’t this the first commandment?! This to me should be the most important
commandment of all in any society! Not only that, let’s expand that to include
respect for the earth and for other living things in order to leave our planet
better than we found it. As a species with the ability to change and affect our
environment greatly, this should be one of our highest responsibilities.
Thou shalt not commit
adultery. I remember asking about this one when learning about the Ten Commandments
in Catholic school and my mother quickly saying that that was a grown up thing
and not to worry about it. While cheating can cause great pain in a
relationship and a family unit, it’s something that, as a moral benchmark, has
become largely ignored. Not to mention, the burden of the commandment itself
was usually placed on the female which was horribly unfair.
Finally, we have stealing, lying, and coveting. While there
are laws for the first two, there’s enough of it going on inside the letter of
the law that has me thinking that many people don’t consider them commandments
to go by anymore, especially during election season. And coveting I have never
understood. Why is it bad to covet? Even God Himself talks about being a
jealous god. If humans are made in His image, then jealousy and therefore
coveting would be natural human traits. I can understand where it would be bad
if the coveting lead to stealing, adultery, or murder. But beyond that,
coveting is almost needed. It’s how the economy thrives! Maybe God was thinking
of Cain and Abel when He came up with this one?
People say that morality comes from God (which
is apparently why atheists can’t be moral) but I have a hard time going along with
commandments which focus primarily on worshipping a jealous deity and others
that people find easy to get around anyway, especially when their god tells
them it’s okay to as He does many times in the Bible. I believe in order to
have a better world and to get along better as humans, we need new
commandments, or at the very least some amendments, commandments people of all
beliefs can agree on and follow for the betterment of humankind.
