Friday on Real Time, Bill Maher argued the Ten Commandments demonstrate the backwardness of religion and have little to do with our time. Most of them are stupid, referring to how great God is, and others are simply obsolete.
But those first five are really about making the second five legitimate. This is the word of the only God (a word your parents are likely to share), and he's serious about being the only God. You better not pay attention to anyone who says some other deity wants to add, subtract or modify the laws. And they're good laws. I'm not a religious person, but it's easy to see the advantages in taking these things to heart. The sentiment, the big picture, behind the second five are things all cultures can embrace:
-Don't murder.
-Don't commit adultery (or, generally, "keep your promises")
-Don't steal.
-Don't lie about your neighbor (or, generally, don't lie)
-Don't covet your neighbor's wife/house (or, don't desire stuff to the point that it hurts others)
True, these are not perfect and could use some updating. But the essential elements of the sanctity of people, property, and promises are there. Religion isn't mindless and the people of the past weren't stupid. Just because it's about God doesn't make it worthless.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
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5 comments:
Well said, David! I just linked to this post on my blog.
You can add that, whenever rules of some sort are being given or verdicts are made, the lawgiver or judge makes some claim to authority. "I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt" is not that different from "By the power vested in me by the State of California" or whatever.
Right, all cultures embrace those values. So why does it have to come from an invisible sky-dwelling father figure to be true?
Besides in the Bible, all those values have an implied caveat, "except for me". God sent 2 bears to maul dozens of children to death for making fun of a bald man. The virgin Mary was 12 when she got knocked up. "The Lord givith and the Lord takith away". Yet those things are OK because it was God doing it. How can those values be about God when God can break them at will? That's the mindless part, the "except for me" aspect that's above criticism. And it's the ease that these values are broken sans punishment or accountability is what makes it worthless.
More importantly, why do you need God to have those values?
God's not necessary, but sufficient. To answer your question as to what he's sufficient for, let me reiterate:
"But those first five are really about making the second five legitimate. This is the word of the only God (a word your parents are likely to share), and he's serious about being the only God. You better not pay attention to anyone who says some other deity wants to add, subtract or modify the laws."
Considering that for the vast majority of human history, the divine was (and still is) a powerful source of motivating behavior, God in this capacity is pretty useful.
When you get a chance, read the 10C's in context. (They're listed twice.) Look at what comes before and after each listing.
Exodus, Chapter 20 and Deuteronomy Chapter 5.
One could make the case that the first five are dated, or served to support the power structure in place at the time they were written (See Jenny's comment, above.)
The last 5 can be condensed into "Don't Steal".
Hardly worth carrying down from Mount Sinai twice.
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