The Ten Commandments offer a basic and reasonable morality that certainly has out-lasted the test of time very well; however, they are all but lost to a great number of our world population because of the obvious connections and overtones of their religeous origin, as a deliverance to Moses from God. Even the word "Commandment" in the title has its short commings - nobody likes the feeling of being being subjgated and under command.
Do you think that rewording the expressed meaning of the Ten Commandments into a more modern and secular form would help to spread its powerfully good intenions through the world for the betterment of all mankind?
Would you be opposed to a renaming of the title to something on the order of, "The ten basic rules of reasonable public behavior" ?
Please offer your input in as positive a fashion as you are able. (i.e., please consider the individual commandments as you decide and write your answer.) and offer your ideas on possible pitfalls. Thanks.
2006-07-16 05:45:43 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
Why NOT ??
But who is worthy of rewriting such a doctrine???
What group of morally perfect humanoids should be appointed to do such a profound and critical task???
2006-07-16 05:53:04 · answer #1 · answered by belledejourdenoir 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I don't think divorcing the commandments from their religious origin would do any good. As religious commandments, they've been held as pretty much immutable for thousands of years. Because they came from God, they were and are not negotiable by human beings. If they're simply 'rules of reasonable public behavior', that makes them suceptable to human meddling, and we humans are GOOD at meddling. The philosophers of yesteryear attempted much the same thing, they tried to come up with philosophies that would encourage people to follow moral standards, but without accountability to or aknowledgement of divine law. Well, we all know how well that worked out. As soon as something stops being a law and starts being just 'a good idea', people start finding ever-increasing ways to ignore it or rationalize their behavior.
2006-07-16 12:53:38 · answer #2 · answered by mischugenah 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, I think the 10 Commandments are fine as they are. They stood up for thousands and thousands of years. Why should they be rewritten to accommodate a society that wants everything instantly?
They are 10 basic rules of conduct. The Commandments come from God (or a superior being.) Even if one does not believe in God or a Superior Being, these are still good, decent, basic rules.
We need to review them and reflect on them a lot more than we are doing now. And, we should be called to task when we are not living up to them.
Basic kindness to one's neighbor should be a rule we all should follow.
2006-07-16 12:52:45 · answer #3 · answered by Malika 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are not the Ten Suggestions they are Commandments they were not just some "Good Ideas" or "reasonable" they are LAWS of GOD. They can not be rewritten they are TRUTH they are GODS words. So I guess to answer your question NO. The biggest Pitfall would be the same one that every other nation that tried to rewrite them in history ever had happen to them THEY FELL.
2006-07-16 12:51:03 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Mankind manipulated established religions to the point where most of it became obsolete, corrupted or ignored.
When one reads the Ten Commandments, one searches his/her own conscience.
To do wanton acts and then face the repercusions is what most of the people decided to do.
To follow the herd is simply wrong.
Where individual freedom is overshadowing God's written rules, the outcome is what we all became used to living with.
Wrong or right?
You be the judge.
2006-07-16 12:54:15 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, some of the ten commandments are really out of date. You should respect your family and not kill and not steal and all that. But some of them have lost their meaning... or are too attached to religious rules that no longer apply, like the respect for holy dates, which unfortunately, in this system that knows no limits that we live in -and it's all work/buy/sell- during those holidays.
2006-07-16 12:50:08 · answer #6 · answered by Patricia R 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is sooooo funny!
It sounds like a satire on writing a politically correct Bible that won't offend anyone.....but CHRISTIANS!!
Any non-believer can write His own book on "The ten basic rules of reasonable public behaviour"....lets see how many people will buy it! God is too big to rewrite His stuff.
2006-07-16 12:50:05 · answer #7 · answered by megmom 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure why not...I would get rid of the first commandment....its pointless in a civilized society...but I would make the Sabbath-day...Sabbath-days (at least 3)...
Beyond the top 10 commandments I would get rid of a couple of those extra ones too...like accepting slavery...or condemning gays...Really the entire bible is in dire need of editing...
Also God didn't write the bible...at best, he inspired it...and so who's say that he won't inspire the editing...LOL
2006-07-16 13:18:32 · answer #8 · answered by jXevyer 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that's up to God whether He wants to do a "re-write" but since He sees what is what down here and He knows what the Ten Commandments say and hasn't given us an "amendment" or "alteration" I would say stick to striving to keep the original Ten until we hear different. :)
2006-07-16 12:51:59 · answer #9 · answered by KitKat 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We have the United Nations Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. Can't we use that instead?
2006-07-16 12:52:45 · answer #10 · answered by XYZ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋