The Ten Commandments vs The Five Commandments
So the all powerful god of the Bible issued 10 Commandments, The first four are devoted to telling you to worship him and the fifth to worship your parents. The last five are the Shalt Nots, fine as far as they go but should we not expect something more positive from a so-called loving god.
So I propose instead:
The Five Commandments
1. Love thy neighbour and strangers alike, without discrimination.
2. Accept and respect other people for who they know themselves to be.
3. Devote yourself to building a better community and society.
4. Using critical thinking skills and the scientific method base your decision-making on facts and reason.
5. Do no harm to others (except in exceptional circumstances and only if absolutely necessary to prevent greater harm).
1 comment:
No. 2 is unworkable as an ethical principle. First, people are notoriously bad at knowing what they are, and what they believe about themselves can be false. Trump, for example, says he believes himself to be a stable genius. He believes he did not commit a sexual assault or defraud anyone. Should everyone accept and respect his opinion?
Second, how is a stranger supposed to know what we believe ourselves to be and act appropriately?
Finally, what we believe about ourselves can change. Are others required to go along with that change, especially when it conflicts with ethical principle no. 4?
Basing ethical behaviour on the subjective desires and preferences of others is a recipe for disaster. Do we go along with people who want to be abused or treated as gods? And, the way a child wishes to be treated by a parent or teacher is probably not the best thing for them, especially when it's based on some transient notion of who they are.
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