The New Ten Commandments

1. 86

   Marisa Wrightposted 16 years ago

   This list has been suggested as an updated version of the Ten Commandments, suitable as a template for use by all, regardless of religion or faith. 
   
   1.  Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you.
   
   2.  In all things strive to cause no harm.
   
   3.  Treat your fellow living things and the world in general with love, honesty, faithfulness and respect.
   
   4.  Do not overlook evil or shrink from administering justice, but always be ready to forgive wrongdoing freely admitted and honestly regretted.
   
   5. Live life with a sense of joy and wonder
   
   6.  Teach your children to think for themselves, even if it means disagreeing with you.
   
   7.  Test all things: always check your views against the facts, and be ready to discard them if they do not conform to the truth.
   
   8.  Never seek to censor or cut yourself off from dissent; always respect the right of others to disagree with you.
   
   9.  Do not allow yourself to be led blindly by others.
   
   10.  Value the future on a timescale longer than your own.
   
   What is your view?  Are they a good template for living?  What else would you include?

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   1. 61

      mohitmisraposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      Very good.

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      1. 61

         mohitmisraposted 16 years agoin reply to this

         Would also add -meditate regularly and find god.Bliss.

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         1. 59

            Crash Jonesposted 16 years agoin reply to this

            Quit suggesting your way is THE WAY.

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            1. 86

               Marisa Wrightposted 16 years agoin reply to this

               Crash, the joke on Mohit is that he agrees with these commandments at all.
               
               They were taken from an atheist website.

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                  Crash Jonesposted 16 years agoin reply to this

                  Ebon, yeah I smiled at my screen when he (inevitably) weighed in ... but, then again, I think MO would praise atheism if you described it without using the words atheism/atheist and god. He's so enlightened that everything, to him, is wonderful as long as you say it with happiness, joy or big words he doesn't know ... mostly the words he doesn't know part.

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   2. 0

      sandra rinckposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      works for me 

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2. 67

   Mishaposted 16 years ago

   While I more or less agree to the most of the list, I have a problem with the first one.
   
   It is definitely better than not thinking about others at all, but it more or less works only under homogeneous cultural environment. As soon as you try to apply it in multi-cultural environment, it fails miserably.
   
   Better version IMHO would be "Do not do to others what they don't want to be done to them"

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3. 86

   Marisa Wrightposted 16 years ago

   "Do as you would be done by" is a very old saying, and it means that you should put yourself in the other person's shoes.  You would never do anything to harm yourself, so it should always work.
   
   That said, I see how in some cases, I might find something quite acceptable whereas someone of another culture might find it unacceptable.  I guess that's what you're getting at, Misha.

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4. 58

   Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

   I think what Misha is saying is that in different cultures, there are different standards as to what you might want done to you. And you should not apply those same standards to other cultures.
   
   A Masai warrior might want to be taken into the bush, be circumcised and left to fend for himself for two weeks when he reached puberty.
   
   But I wouldn't want that done to me, no matter the good intentions

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5. 74

   Inspirepubposted 16 years ago

   Even within a culture!
   
   When my husband is stressed, he wants everyone to leave him alone so he can watch television.
   
   When I am stressed, I want to talk about my stressors and be looked after and nurtured.
   
   If we practiced "do as you would be done by", we'd be divorced by now!
   
   Jenny
   
   P.S. And yes, it's a mongrel when something happens that stresses us both.
   
   Another vote for Misha's rewrite. I would go so far as to say "Find out how others want to be treated, and treat them that way, provided it doesn't conflict with any other commandment to do so."

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6. 67

   Mishaposted 16 years ago

   Yep, that's exactly what I meant People may want to be treated differently than you think they are for a whole lot of different reasons, cultural environment being just one of them.

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7. 65

   funrideposted 16 years ago

   Hummmm...
   
   I´m "smelling" the birth of a new one: Hubalism!
   
   Until now I´m all forward . And I can see by the last posts that here we can make changes to the commandments for them to get better. For me those are 10 good ones and could/should be followed by all.

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8. 69

   SparklingJewelposted 16 years ago

   You all are talking about the Golden Rule...not a commandment. right? I think half of what Marissa wrote out are covered under the Golden Rule...but it is good to get specific.
   
   Misha, how would anyone know what could bother someone else...how could anyone know what to ask about what bothers them...not a very realistic situation to expect that anyone could know what bothers another unless they started asking.
   
   It seems to me that is why doing the best you can, by not doing to someone what you know you would not like have done to you, is the only place to start. Then inform yourself the best you can about other cultures and people, then you learn about each other in relationships as they progress.

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9. 67

   Mishaposted 16 years ago

   Jewel, sure, it is definitely a learning process. And necessary one at that, if one wants to follow the spirit of the original "do onto others..." rule and not only the letter of it
   
   Yes, we should start asking - and we should start telling. It makes things thousand times easier.

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10. 86

    Marisa Wrightposted 16 years ago

    OK, so now the Ten Commandments look like this:
    
    1.  Find out how others want to be treated, and treat them that way, provided it doesn't conflict with any other commandment to do so
    
    2.  In all things strive to cause no harm.
    
    3.  Treat your fellow living things and the world in general with love, honesty, faithfulness and respect.
    
    4.  Do not overlook evil or shrink from administering justice, but always be ready to forgive wrongdoing freely admitted and honestly regretted.
    
    5. Live life with a sense of joy and wonder
    
    6.  Teach your children to think for themselves, even if it means disagreeing with you.
    
    7.  Test all things: always check your views against the facts, and be ready to discard them if they do not conform to the truth.
    
    8.  Never seek to censor or cut yourself off from dissent; always respect the right of others to disagree with you.
    
    9.  Do not allow yourself to be led blindly by others.
    
    10.  Value the future on a timescale longer than your own.
    
    Mohit suggests adding a new one - "Meditate regularly and find God".  I'd have to delete one to fit this one in.  Do others agree it should be included?  Which one do we lose?
    
    Any other suggestions?

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    1. 59

       Eric Graudinsposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       Update to:
       9. Do not allow yourself to be led blindly by others, especially if they have websites with large red headings, pictures of yachts, fast cars, and mansions, and a paypal button at the bottom.
       
       
       
       Why be boring and limit the list to 10 - just like everyone else does.
       Strike Out. Make a new brand.
       How about "The Eleven Commandments for Modern Life." and add Meditation as number 11. ?
       
       And maybe change it to "Meditate regularly and find A God".
       there's thousands from which to choose

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11. 59

    Crash Jonesposted 16 years ago

    Since I tend to shut down when given lists of rules, I'll try my own using the one posted here as a semi-guide:
    
    1) Treat others respectfully, unless they prove themselves fools. If they're fools, treat them according to your fancy.
    
    2) Do not murder, maim, disfigure or otherwise harm another individual, even if they are a fool.
    
    3) Spend your love, time and energy on all those who deserve it. Ignore or, if it helps you feel better, mock them.
    
    4) Be prepared recognize evil and fight it with zeal.
    
    5) Encourage children to think freely, live well and recognize and avoid fools.
    
    6) Keep an open mind, recognizing that others' opinions are sometimes valid and sometimes a waste of brain cells.
    
    7) Respect the right of others to disagree. Contemplate their arguments, yet understand that many people's opinions are useless.
    
    8) Understand that the world owes you nothing. It was here before you and will continue long after your existence.
    
    9) Tell the truth ... if you must.
    
    10) Ignore all rules, dictums and commandments that conflict with your own beliefs, faith, morality and common sense.

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12. 91

    Paragliderposted 16 years ago

    My main issue with these latter-day commandments is that they are unmemorable, being written in bland and woffly fashionable language that will date very quickly. They're not crafted for permanence, however well-meant they may be.

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13. 86

    Marisa Wrightposted 16 years ago

    That's a very good point, Paraglider.  I agree with them but there's nothing particularly exciting about them.

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14. 74

    Inspirepubposted 16 years ago

    Nothing can take the place of good old "Thou shalt not ..."
    
    Maybe you could redraft them in the negative?

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    1. 91

       Paragliderposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       There's a lot of sense in that. The old ten commandments allow for great personal freedom simply because they (largely) avoid telling you what to do. The effectively say do what you like as long as you don't do x, y & z.

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       kerrygposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       The authors of the Bible also knew that sex and violence sell.
       
       EVERYBODY knows that thou shalt not kill or covet thy neighbor's wife. Who remembers all that boring stuff about keeping the sabbath?

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15. 69

    SparklingJewelposted 16 years ago

    The ten commandments were originally drafted (IMHO) to inform  and warn people to obey the laws of the universe (God). You know, all the Energy that IS, works in particular ways and not in others (I mean the Energy gets used in ways that are not in harmony with the Original Intent), so things have gotten messed up and confusion has ruled.
    
    the rules that you have outlined go in line with good human conduct, but of course, lack, partially,significance with Original Intent of Harmony...sorry folks...can't get away from Truth as the focus on Original Intent (that is God). the Universe "works" in particular ways, period. And not in others.
    
    From my studies/meditations through the years the reason there is so much power of consciousness in the old ten commandments is that the souls that are eternal have been thinking and living them from the beginning of time...they are of the ethers, the planetary memory, the Spirit.    Repetition  creates power. For good, that's great; for evil that's not...because it is a misuse of the power of Original Intent.

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16. 67

    Mishaposted 16 years ago

    And we forgot the cornerstone one - Judge not lest ya be judged Which make the most of the list obsolete

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    1. 91

       Paragliderposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       Except that comes from the sermon on the mount and isn't part of the decalogue. I've always liked the sermon on the mount - it's about as useful and humane as religious teaching ever gets.
       
       I also like the version in Life of Brian - blessed are the cheesemakers . . .

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          Inspirepubposted 16 years agoin reply to this

          I think it has been agreed that in this case, the cheesemakers are an example. Our Lord was, of course, referring to any worker in the dairy industry ....
          
          Jenny

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17. 59

    cjcsposted 16 years ago

    Be good to others; try to not be afraid.
    
    (All the rest is commentary. )
    
    CJ

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