The Ten Big Ones
GR Gaudreau
For the purpose of this essay, we will assume that the commandments
given in Ex 20 and Deut 5 are the actual Ten Commandments. I'll let
you find them and read them yourselves and save some bandwidth. Some Christians
would dearly love to impose these commandments on us, telling us that
the "All-Mighty Himself" gave them and that they are absolutes; with the
possible exception of the Sabbath commandment, depending on which denomination
one belongs to.
Before we start, here are a few questions you may wish to ponder: why
should anyone believe that these commandments are god-given? Man, by himself,
is perfectly capable of divising such commandments and did so long before
these were written. In fact, there is no reason to believe that anyone else
but men wrote the Ten Commandments.
Why should anyone believe this Moses? This is nothing but hearsay. We
have, if indeed Moses wrote these commandments, only the word of Moses
that this is so. So what? Anyone could claim such a thing and many people
have throughout history. Where's the proof that Moses did indeed receive
those from his god? Come to think of it: where's the proof that Moses even
existed, or that his god exists?
Moreover, if Moses didn't write these, then it's double-hearsay. It's
a second hand report which alleges that some as-yet-unproven character,
Moses, received the commandments from his as-yet-unproven god. Again, why
should anyone give this account anymore credibility than, say, the Buddha
himself giving us the Eightfold Path, or Allah giving Muhammad the Qur'an,
through the Archangel Gabriel? Where is the proof that this Moses existed
and received them as per the account?
Now, let's take a look at each of these commandments and see if they should
be, as some Christians claim, applicable to all mankind.
1. You will have no other gods before me.
Simple enough, isn't it? Or is it? First, neither the Jew, nor the Christian,
can prove the existence of their version of the biblegod. In fact, no
one has yet proven the existence of any god, let alone the biblegod's
existence. Second, I have to ask: Why should we serve the biblegod? More
to the point, why should we worship any god, since no one has ever proven
the existence of any of the gods dreamed up by mankind?
To most people, the worship of deities is seen as a necessity but some,
like myself, see no reason for doing so. This commandment means nothing
to me, as well as thousands of other Sceptics; not to mention hundreds of
millions of others who may be Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist or any other of the
of religions invented by mankind.
In the Bible, from the very first verse, the biblegod's existence is
assumed. No questions asked, no discussion, end of story. The
authors of Genesis started out with a presupposition, i.e., "my God exists
and that's that." As with anything metaphysical, a bare assumption is enough
for those who are inclined to believe.
Why should anyone have to obey this commandment, touted as being "given
from on high," without so much as one iota of evidence that this god exists?
My answer: no one should have to and there is nothing universal about it.
And as a sidenote, the first commandment implies that the Isrealites were
polytheistic, otherwise why bother giving them this commandment.
2. You will not make images, or idols, to serve them, for
I am a jealous god who punishes those who disobey me, down to the fourth
generation.
The biblegod, we are told, is jealous. He wants all the worship
and the choice is to resist him and be punished, even down to your great
grandchildren, or grovel before this tyrant. Lovely. Not only is this deity
is so petty that he can't even allow people -- to whom he has supposedly
given free-will -- the liberty to choose their own object of worship, he
won't even allow them to make a representation of the object of their worship.
This is reminiscent of something Robert A. Heinlein once wrote: "Men
rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a god superior to themselves. Most
gods have the manners and morals of spoiled child." Where the biblegod is
concerned, this would be the case in spades. His attitude is basically, "worship
me or die, along with your descendants." Ever been shopping with a spoiled
child? It's attitude is basically, "buy me this toy, or I'll throw a tantrum."
Some god!
Personally, I fail to see what's wrong with making images of gods, or
saints, in aid of worship. If that's what it takes for some to get through
the day, then so be it. No harm in that. Would an all-wise, all-powerful
deity be so vain as to demand the worship of inferiors. In my humble opinion,
vanity, an altogether human trait, was applied liberally in the biblegod's
case. This rule is no more universal than is the first.
3. You will not take my name in vain. If you do, you will
be punished.
First off let's clarify soemthing: taking "the Lord's name in vain" does
not mean cussing or other forms of vulgarity. It means using this god's
name to make a promise one does not intend to keep. The problem, as I see
it, is that if one cannot even prove the existence of this deity, let alone
that his name shouldn't be taken in vain. Therefore, why even bother with
this commandment? Why not simply be a man, or a woman of your word? Do we
really have to have the divine threat of dire punishment to keep our word?
If so, then you're inherently untrustworthy and no commandment will make
any difference to you, because you're a liar.
This command also carries with it a liberal dose of human vanity. "Use
my name in vain and you'll get yours," is the basic thrust
here. How petty does one have to be to take vengeance on another for using
his name in vain, even down to his great grandchildren? Good grief!
To be sure, breaking ones word would upset most people and with good
reason. But would you make someone suffer eternal torments for doing so?
If your answer is yes, than I think you're as morally deficient as the
biblegod, or, more to the point: as morally deficient as those who created
him. There is nothing universal about this rule. It is the product of a
society which held that only its deity was "The One True God." So what if
that's what they believed? Does that mean everyone else has to cow-tow to
this vain and petulant god? My answer is no.
4. You will honour the Sabbath and not work on the seventh
day.
Why, pray tell, should we honour the Sabbath? The Sabbath was not just
a day of rest in Isreal, it was a day of worship. A day of rest during
the week is a good thing, I'll readily conceed, but one should be free to
to choose which day, if possible, and how one will spend that day. What
about people who have to work seven days a week to survive and to
insure their family's survival? Are we to condemn them for not taking a
day off? Preposterous!
As well, why should we take a day off to worship this deity? No one
has ever proven its existence, let alone that this commandment come from
that deity. Do you see a pattern here? Do you see that these commandments
were were written by men who favoured the worship of their god and
their rules in the context of their society? Does
that tell you something? It does me: It tells me that the above ethics were
wholly subjective.
5. Honour your mother and father if you wish to live a
long life.
There's an old saying with which I heartily agree: "honour to whom honour
is due." Most parents deserve to be honoured, but some don't. Here's a
hypothetical situation, which is not so hypothetical for some children:
There are fathers and mothers who not only neglect their children, but who
outright abandon them. Some, as I recently pointed out to a friend, are
nothing more than low-life, no 'count, stank-ass drunks, who provide no protection
and no sustenance for their offspring. Should these "parents" be honoured?Not
on your life!
Some will argue that parents represent god to their children, in the
sense that they are providers and the voice of authority for their children.
But again, I have to ask: What if your parents never did that? What if
they abandoned you, never provided for you, never protected you, cleaned
you, loved you? Should they be honoured? Not on your life! Honour
to whom honour is due. And that doesn't even cover the problem of proving
there even is a god for parents to represent.
Now don't get me wrong: I think that when a parent does his best to be
a good parent and takes care of his offsrping, then he deserves to be honoured.
However, I don't need some god, or any of his "commandments" to tell me
that.
6. You will not kill. (or commit murder, a some would
have it)
Here's a commandment with which I agree. A reason to kill, in my opinion,
would be self-preservation, or the preservation of ones family. However,
when I read the Bible, I see story after story of a god commanding the slaughter
of thousands, even millions, if the Bible's numbers are to be believed.
Here are a few examples you can read for yourselves, if your stomach can
take it:
Joshua 10:40 So Joshua smote all the country of the hills,
and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings:
he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the
LORD God of Israel commanded.
Joshua 11:11 And they smote all the souls that were therein with the
edge of the sword, utterly destroying them : there was not any left to
breathe: and he burnt Hazor with fire.
Joshua 11:14 And all the spoil of these cities, and the cattle, the
children of Israel took for a prey unto themselves; but every man they
smote with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them, neither
left they any to breathe.
I Kings 15:29 And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all
the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until
he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake
by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite:
1Samuel 15:2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek
did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from
Egypt. 3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have,
and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox
and sheep, camel and ass.
The very god who is alleged to have inspired "Thou shalt not kill,"
is the same god who is alleged to have commanded the above slaughters. The
gore and blood one encounters when reading the Bible should be enough to
disgust anynone and yet, many Christians would defend this deity's "right"
to have his creatures slaughtered mercilessly, down to children and sucklings.
The Isrealites could slaughter whole nations without mercy and yet we are
told that this commandment is an absolute. Can you say "subjective as it
gets?" Nothing universal here.
7. You will not commit adultry.
If we are not to commit adultry, then why has this god created us, especially
men, to be so inclined to it? Hormones course through our bodies and sexual
urges abound in the human and yet, we cannot, if Jesus is to be believed,
even look at another woman and desire her. To do this, according to him,
is to have committed adultry already. Talk about stacking the deck against
us!
This is nothing less than thought control, the thought police being
your "God-given" conscience, not to mention a herd of pew warmers ready
to pounce on you if one should happen to notice that you're "lusting".
What is this obesssion with sex with which so many religionists are afflicted?
Do you mean to tell me, Christian, that your god, allegedly the creator
of this vast universe, is actually interested in my sex life??? Excuse me
while I bust a gut laughing. Ironic, isn't it, how the slaughter of innocents
can be justified, but so-called "adulterous thoughts" are daily condemned
by those who would impose these commandments on us? So much for consistency!
8. You will not steal.
Generally, I would say that this is a very good commandment and I think
so would you. However, what if your very survival, or the survival of your
family, depended on your stealing some food? Would you steal this food
to keep you and your family alive? I would, in a heartbeat. So, is it reasonable
then to impose, in an absolute manner, this commandment? I think not and
I'd bet my bottom dollar that most, if not all Christians, would break
it if the situation meant their survival of their family's. Why , then,
do they talk about these commandments, save perhaps the Sabbath commandment,
as being absolutes? Isn't that just a bit hypocritical on their part? I think
so.
9. You will not speak a lie against your neighbour.
This is a good commandment. I have nothing against this except to say
that, based on many years of church-going, not many Christians actually
observe this commandment. I think that basically everyone would agree that
to slander ones neighbour is not a good thing. For some, their name and
honour are the only real possessions they have.
But does the giver of these laws, allegedly the All-Mighty Himself,
follow his own rules? Does he always tell the truth?
1Kings 22:20 And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that
he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and
another said on that manner. 21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood
before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him. 22 And the LORD said unto
him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit
in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him ,
and prevail also: go forth, and do so. 23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD
hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD
hath spoken evil concerning thee.
II Chronicles 18:21 And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit
in the mouth of all his prophets. And the LORD said, Thou shalt entice
him , and thou shalt also prevail: go out, and do even so. 22 Now therefore,
behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets,
and the LORD hath spoken evil against thee.
Did you see that? The "LORD" Himself sent a lying spirit in order to
make some prophets lie, that he might entice king Ahab. Would you say that
this is as bad as baring false witness against your neighbour? I would.
Why can't this god follow his own rules? Perhaps because this god was made
in the image of those who created him? I'll let you be the judge of that.
As for me, I've already come to my own conclusions concerning the integrity
of this god: he has little if any.
10. You will not desire you neighbour's wife, or his servants
(slaves), or his house, or his luxury car, or his pick-up truck, or anything
else that belongs to your neighbour. (modern translation)
Have you to noticed that "your neighbour's wife" is listed along with
his other possessions? Back in biblical
times, women were considered property, so that desiring, or coveting your
neighbour's wife was the same as desiring his ox or his ass--though his
wife may have been slightly more esteemed than his ass. After
all, she gave your neighbour his children, took care of them, took care
of his house, took care of his animals, sometimes worked his field, and provided
hubby with some much needed relief from sexual tensions.
Have you noticed, as well, that this command is not addressed to women?
No commandment is given to women concerning the desire to have her neighbour's
husband, or his ass for that matter. Can you say "paternalistic and chauvinistic
society?"
This is yet another of those "thought police" type of commandments,
where even your desires are subject to the "wrath of the All-Mighty." Where
do these people get off telling us what thoughts we should have? This
is the so-called "free-will" we're supposed to have been given by this
deity? We can't even entertain our own private thoughts without endangering
our "eternal souls?"
We, especially men, are naturally inclined to "lust after women." In
fact, if we didn't, there wouldn't be any humans, and yet our very nature
condemns us? What kind of fiend creates people this way? To be blunt, the
kind of fiend who was himself created by a bunch of ignorant ancients, bent
on controlling even the thoughts of their neighbours. So much for free-will!
NB: Imagine what our economy would become if every man
and woman obeyed this commandment? Say goodbye to most of your jobs. Since
when is desiring something a sin -- even strongly desiring something? Answer:
since we've had people trying to control our thoughts. Thought control
means total control, which means no freedom.
Conclusion
The Ten Commandments, seen by many as universal rules which should be
imposed on mankind, are nothing more than situation ethics meant for a
time when some people thought they were needed and tried to imposed them
on their fellows. They are not, by any stretch of the imagination, objective
ethics. The very nature of some of these commandments reflect the beliefs
of the ancient Isrealites, not everyone else's.
If you wish to follow such rules, then by all means do so, but please
don't try imposing them on us as though they were absolute rules given
by an absolute sovereign. They aren't.
The Ten Big Ones aren't so "big" after all then, are they?
