October 29, 2009

A More Realistic Take On The 10 Commandments

By wise sloth

Stained glass window depicting the Ten Commandments

 

Note: Whenever I quote the bible I’m quoting the New International Version.

 

1. “You shall have no other Gods before me.”

If a modern day Christian child were to ask their parents the question, “Why did God say you shall have no other God before me if He’s the only god?” A modern day Christian parent might reply that it’s a figure of speech.

No, it’s not, and two sentences later the author of Exodus makes that clear. Here’s Yahweh’s reasoning for why He only wants you to worship him: “You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Why should you only worship Yahweh? Because he’s jealous of the other gods. Not because he’s the only god.

More importantly, if you don’t worship him he’ll torment you and all your descendants. Don’t overlook the significance of the Jewish tribal leaders who wrote the Ten Commandments threatening their tax-payers’ family. In near prehistoric times (and especially for nomads) family life was all you had. Your family was absolutely everything. To threaten an ancient Jew’s family was a billion times harsher of a threat than to threaten a modern American’s family. Think about how serious that is. That’s how seriously the Jewish religious leaders wanted control.

 

2. “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.”

This is pretty ingenious. First, it directly ends the problem the Jewish religious leaders had been having of people worshiping any shiny statue that impressed them. Secondly, if you don’t have a shiny statue to worship then how are you going to commune with god? Through the religious leaders of course.

 

3. “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.”

Let’s simplify things, every time you see the word LORD, replace it with GOVERNMENT, because LORD is GOVERNMENT in the time and place were talking about. So this commandment is really saying, “You will not question the government or you will be punished.”

 

4. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”

The military has an ingenious way of indoctrinating its members. When soldiers walk outside they have to put their hat on. When they walk inside they have to take their hat off. The reasoning for that rule isn’t to keep the sun out of soldiers’ eyes or to keep them from looking tacky inside. This rule exists because it prevents soldiers from forgetting that they belong to the military, and it forces them to police each other. The Sabbath works the same way. It’s a weekly reminder never to forget that your theocracy rules your life. Other than that, it serves absolutely no productive purpose.

 

5. “Honor your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”

This commandment is written in Exodus 20:12. Exodus 21:17 says, “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.”

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 says, “If a man has a stubborn a rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, and they shall say to the elders of the city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones.”

This commandment establishes the elder’s power over the young. It also justifies and indoctrinates the cultural values the Jews were already practicing.

 

6. “You shall not murder.”

This is the first commandment that lays down a functional civil law, and what civil law is more important than not killing each other? If any group of people were to sit down and come up with laws for society, this is the first law they would all come up with first. In fact, other governments around the world have come to the same conclusion without Yahweh’s divine inspiration. It’s certain this law existed in Jewish culture before the person who wrote the Ten Commandments was born..

 

7. “You shall not commit adultery.”

Biblical marriage law is based on the premise that men buy their wives from their father in-laws, and women are property to be owned and controlled completely by their husband. That means adultery is equivalent to stealing property. That’s why forbiding adultery was so important to the authors of the Ten Commandments that he had to put it in the top 10 list.

 

8. “You shall not steal.”

This is another rule that makes good civic sense. It doesn’t take God to come up with this rule, and it was almost certainly around long before the Ten Commandments. Why else would the Hebrew language have the word “steal?” Or do you believe that word wasn’t invented until Yahweh revealed to the Jewish leaders that stealing was wrong?

 

9. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”

This rule doesn’t say, “Don’t lie.” It doesn’t say, “You shall not give false testimony to your neighbor.” It expressly says, “…against your neighbor.” It’s saying you will not lie about your neighbor.

In Jewish culture at the time, your personal reputation and your family’s reputation basically determined your status in society. That’s why preserving peoples’ reputations was one of the top ten priorities of the authors of The Ten Commandments This law reveals yet again that the Ten Commandments are culturally, as opposed to divinely, inspired.

 

10. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

This is the most morally bankrupt commandment in the list. It relegates women to pieces of property less valuable than a house but more valuable than a common slave or a donkey. Either that’s how much the creator of the universe considers women are worth or that’s how much one ancient Middle Eastern tribe once considered women were worth.

But that’s beside the real point of the commandment. Why was this commandment necessary? Commandment #8 already said not to steal. So if you’re not going to steal then what’s wrong with just wanting stuff? Because people who don’t want a better life are easiest to control.

 

If you enjoyed this post, you’ll also like these:

 

Agnosticism 
Atheism
Secular Living
Islam
The Bible is mythology
Christianity is Harmful to Society
Preaching, witnessing and arguing with Christians
Christian Culture
My Tweets About Religion

 

 

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 1:42 am and tagged with , , , , , , , , and posted in The Bible is Mythology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

One response to “A More Realistic Take On The 10 Commandments”

  • Alice Ntoi
    March 8th, 2017 at 3:33 pm

    The Bible is the only source of authority I was introduced to as a child! I have believed in this authority all my life with absolutely nothing to cause me to doubt the messages in this book! Later in life I learned on my own about other religions and their books of instruction! I haven’t had a chance to really study the other books because I found myself judging their validity according to the Bible which remains my standard! I know this is not fear BUT I am currently too indoctrinated to trust the Bible to believe anything else! How I see things is that, the bottom line is that, if the Bible is a hoax and the existence of God is a bluff, I don’t lose anything for believing what I do now! BUT if indeed the Bible is true and the God of the Bible actually existsee and actually has a standard required for living, following that standard will surely be rewarded! To me, that’s a huge difference and a big deal!

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