Questions about ten commandments?
Please no threats of hell or judgement, I'm an atheist, they won't affect me in the slightest, and I understand that you'd be doing it because you "care for my soul". But I really don't want to have to make the effort to thumb-down a bunch of answers just because they don't answer the question(s).
If you're going to answer, make it about the questions, not about my "soul". Please.
These are my personal opinions on the ten commandments.
1. Thou shalt worship no other god before me.
Convenient isn't it? Right off the bat, a commandment which is blatantly telling you that not listening to this religion is a punishable offense. That sets up the base foundation by which the rest of the commandments function, that THIS god is the only real god, that all the other beleifs out there are nonsense.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
This one is more tailored for the ancestor worship and paganism of the day the commandments were given. Those religions almost always prominently featured an idol or image that the people would worship as a stand-in for god. So this one made it so any other religion doomed you to undergo divine punishment and/or judgement. Just another hook in you.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the lord thy god in vain.
This is essentially a method of getting in your head, after all, controlling behaviour is fine, but when you've got your hooks in their thoughts, you've really got them! It makes it so that you have a foundation from which to control peoples thoughts and speech, because if they think it, it's bad, but if they don't say it, it's pretty easily contained.
4. Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy.
This one wasn't such a bad idea, giving the people a god-given right to a day off. But wait! That's not actually what it's for! You are supposed to take the sabbath and give it to god! Essentially, this is your detention, go to church so that the clergy can ram god's word into your head for hours on end. So your day's off are for your own forced proselytization!
5. Honour thy father and mother.
OK, another easy one, so your parent's were indoctrinated by the church long ago. And they are the ones who make you go to church. This commandment makes it so that you cannot question your parents authority over you (unless, ironically, they question the church). So that you have to listen to the church gospel either way! Those wily clergy!
6. Thou shalt not kill.
This is the first one not directly concerned with controlling you. This one is historic for it's inaccuracy (people kill for food, clothing, to defend themselves, etc...) and should really be put "thou shalt not murder" which does the same job while leaving important loopholes (self defense, food, etc..). But anyway, it makes sense, why? Because if you try to murder me I'll probably end up killing you. So even if you're an atheist, it's a really bad idea to murder people. That's been true since before the Bible, since before the Torah, since before anything.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
This one is a little harder to explain, as human beings aren't naturally monogamous animals. Essentially, society has found that jealousy is as natural as breathing to most people, and so to avoid the slitting of throats by jealous wives or husbands, our society evolved to be monogamous. I say *our* because some 70% of societies around the world, aren't monogamous. They've found other traditions and methods to avoid jealousy (such as allowing everybody to have multiple husbands and/or wives, and communal property (which can lead to some really weird family trees)). Not to mention the fact that people way back when had to feed all their children off the land, and without birth control more wives meant more kids, so... One wife meant fewer children and an easier time with feeding everybody.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
This one is like number 6, you steal from me and I'll steal from you, maybe even kill you for stealing my stuff. It's pretty obviously not a question of religion.
9. Thou shalt not near false witness against thy neighbor.
Well, this one is about lying! I'm surprised to find this one is hard. You see, people lie all the time. It's part of our nature, whether to avoid hurting someones feelings, to stay out of trouble, or to avoid general unpleasantness. Now think about the clergy, and all the things that have made the news lately, or the crusades, and their true purpose. Wow, people lie alot.
10. Thou shalt not covet.
Well, this one is complicated, this is the clergy trying to tell you to not wish you had things you don't or people you can't. This is plainly stupid. If nobody ever wanted anything better than what they have, they would lack aspiration and goals. The world would grind to a standstill as people became complacent with the status quo. The economy would fail, science would never advance, the world would become a dull and
It cut off my questions!!! Ok, pretty much, how do the moral commandments cease to make sense without god, and how do the rest make sense without the church as the governing body?
Apostle, read the question again, How do they CEASE to make sense without God? Is murder or lying A-ok as long as gods not in the picture? No, of course not, it's a form of harming people, and harming people is wrong in religious AND secular soceities. It's a universal moral, with, or without, god.
Thank you sexy, you may not get best answer, but you're the first to get a thumbs up for answering the actual questions.
Daesha D, capitals don't make your opinions any more valid. The Ten commandments are worded differently by differnt branches of faith, so the coveting issue can be easily explained by different texts at your house and mine.
Have you EVER heard of a universal value? One that is found in every soceity and religion, even the ones that have nothing to do with Abraham? God is unnecessary for several of the commandments, the question was, how, EXACTLY is it that they only function with God? Are you implying that murder would be perfectly acceptable if Moses had never received the tablets?
H, I'm no troll, but your response was well thought out and it made me chuckle. Thumbs up for you!