Unorthodox Study: The 10 Commandments
Unorthodox Study: The 10 Commandments
Introduction
One of the ways the christian missionaries presented their message of Christianity to our ancestors was through a set of rules named "The Ten Commandments". They are written in the Biblical book of Exodus, chapter 20.
At first glance, the Ten Commandments look like a good way to live. The reality is that they attempt to look at situations as absolute. But no situation is the same all the time.
Sometimes, when you face a situation, you have to consider the history of the issue and the culture surrounding you. You have to consider the circumstances in which the situation is presented to you, such as who is giving you the order, what you know about the entity giving you the order (such as its past activities, usual behavior, and reputation).
You have to consider the type of order that is given to you, the advantages and disadvantages, etc. You have to outweigh the risks on yourself, and the welfare of others. You have to judge how much responsibility you hold on the outcome, especially if the end result happens to be negative.
As an example to evaluate these situations, let's examine the Ten Commandments (we will quote from the New King James Version (NKJV)):
Many times, when you talk to some christians and other religious people such as some muslims, you would hear them making such statements as "I don't know what the big deal is. We all believe in the same god.". The Bible presents its god as the only true god. The Qur'an presents its god as the only true god (Al-Baqarah 2:163, Al-Baqarah 2:133, Al-Anbya 21:108, Az-Zukhruf 43:84, An-Nahl 16:22). Each one of these religions describes its god differently, which clearly demonstrates that their adherants do not believe in the same god and are not worshipping the same god. Each of their religions has a Paradise and a Hell. The paradise of each is different from the other's. The hell of each is different from the other's. This leads to a clear demonstration that, as they are not the same religion, they are not worshipping the same gods, and they don't have the same god.
The first of the Ten Commandments of the Bible and in other sections of their holy books, the Bible and the Qur'an assume or acknowkedge that there are many gods (Genesis 31:30, Exodus 12:12, 15:11, 20:3, 23:13, 23:32-33, 34:14, Numbers 33:4, Deuteronomy 5:7, 6:14, 11:16, Psalms 86:1, 82:6, 86:8. 95:3. 96:4, 97:7, 135:5, Acts 17:18, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Al-Baqarah 2:163, Al-An'am 6:136, An-Nahl 16:86, Qur'an 25:3, Ar-Rum 30:13, Sad 38:5, Al-Qalam 68:41).
The missionaries who brought Islam and Christianity to our continent found our ancestors having beliefs and practices. But one of the primary goals of those missionaries was to destroy, that is, to put down, other people's beliefs and cultures. To start, they wanted to present their gods as supreme beings who are uniquely worthy of anybody's worship.
Well, there are many gods. The god worshipped by Christians is just one of the gods. The god worshipped by Muslims is only one god among others. Those gods are neither superior nor more powerful than any other because that has never been demonstrated.
The Bible and the Qur'an are books, just like any other. The fact that something is written in the Bible or the Qur'an doesn't automatically make that thing true.
If you want other people to respect your beliefs, you must learn to respect other people's culture, other people's beliefs, and other people's god(s).
Here, the Bible indicates that different people have various ways to conduct their religious activities and ceremonies, based on their history, culture, and environment.
When the Muslims and Christian missionaries got to our continent, one of their goals was to disrespect and insult whatever ways the local communities worshipped and conducted their religious activities.
Any accessories other people were using were said to be of the devil. Ceremonial places were destroyed and replaced by churches and mosques. Some religious accessories were burned; others were stolen and taken to be exposed to western museums where they are still exploited for their beauty and spiritual prowess.
The Muslims and Christian missionaries used insulting words and negative expressions to name, to characterize, and to describe any objects that our ancestors were using. Pejorative words such as "idol" (Genesis 31:19, Exodus 34:17, Acts 17:16, Al-Muddaththir 74:5, Ash-Shu'ara 26:96, Ash-Shu'ara 26:71, Ash-Shu'ara 26:94, Ghafir 40:73), pagan (As-Saffat 37:161), "witch/witchcraft" (Al-Falaq 113:4), "sorcerer/sorcery", "fetish" were commonly used to indicate objects and practices that our "uncivilized" people were using during worship. Those pejorative words are still being used by Christians and Muslims today.
There exist many religions in the world. People in those religions have various ways to worship, just like Christians and Muslims have their ways. You must acknowledge and respect how people from a certain way worship, without insulting them, mocking their beliefs, or destroying their culture, even if you think that your religion is better. But then, if/when other people disrespect the christian and muslim worship accessories, remember that their ancestors faced 100 times that level of ridicule.
What does it mean to "take the name of the Lord ... in vain."? Muslims are commanded to pray five times every day. Christians are recommended to pray all the time, for any reason, under every circumstance.
Some Christians pray as soon as they wake up in the morning. They are asked to pray and thank their god every time they eat, which could be one, two, or three times. If they have a job, they are asked to pray whenever they leave their house and when they get to their destination. They are asked to pray before going to sleep. So a regular christian may pray one to seven times in day.
Whenever christians and Muslims pray, they must identify who they are praying. As a result, they say the name of their God one to a hundred times everyday.
During the day, there are situations in which religious people exclaim, using the name of their god. Examples are:
Are these expressions "naming the lord in vain"?
Which one of the following expressions "name the lord in vain"?
It appears that religious people consider that you can call on the name of their god a thousand times a day as long as you are thanking him for something good you think he did in your life; but if you hold that same god responsible for any failure in your life, all of a sudden you are using the name of the Lord in vain.
On the other hand, apparently this commandment insinuates that some expressions should not be associated with Allah, the god of the Bible, or Jesus Christ. Examples are "goddammit", "Jesus Fucking Christ", "holy crap", etc.
Muslims and Christian missionaries made it a habit to take the names of the deities of our ancestors in vain, so you too have the right and ability to take the names of their gods in vain.
Well, out of respect, don't make it a habit to insult other people's gods. But Freedom of Expression allows you to use words, names, and expressions. Unless you live in one of those countries where speech and religious criticism are limited, nothing will happen to you if you use the names of the lords of Christianity and Islam in vain. After all, that's how they have always used the names of other people's gods, in vain.
This is one of the commands you should never take seriously. This commandment completely ignores people's daily realities. Whether you are religious or not, there are jobs that must be performed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Examples include:
There are some jobs that must be performed any day, including the Sabbath. Otherwise, people would die. Is it what the god of the Bible wants? Probably yes.
This commandment has two sections, but to start, a certain word is not found there: "always". Well, there are bad parents, including those who abuse their children. There are fathers who rape their own daughters.
There are parents who abandon their children at an early stage of the children lives and come back many years later.
For the first part of this commandment, when it comes to obeying parents, this is a good advice towards responsible parents who do their best to take care of their children to the limits of their means.
The second part of this commandment implies that a child who honors his or her parents would always have a long life. This is not always the case, which makes this promise a lie. There are respectful children who die every day, through a disease, food poisoning, pandemic, accidents (car, airplane, etc), sometimes in the company of the parent they respect.
Children should honor and obey their parents, but there are circumstances in which this should not "always" happen.
The King James Version of this commandment states: "Thou shalt not kill."
Studies in various areas of social science present differences in killing, murdering, executing, self-defending, etc. This one-sentence commandment doesn't take some details into consideration.
There are situations in which killing is authorized or ordered by someone else: military (during war), police shooting, death penalty, etc.
There are other situations when a person must kill. Examples are self-defense where somebody is being attacked, being raped, or during a violent home invasion. It is important to keep in mind that murder and cold execution are something else.
This commandment has nothing to do with marriage. So it is confusing to deduce from this commandment:
This commandment doesn't indicate whether the god of the Bible is offended by adultery. If that were the case, this commandment doesn't say why and when the god of the Bible would be offended.
This is a cheap useless commandment.
This commandment falls in the same logic as the 6th commandment. In other words, the circumstances influence the decision and outcome of this commandment.
The God of the Bible is not in a good position to give people a lecture about stealing. In the Old Testament, the God of the Bible gives instructions to people to go and conquer other people, to grab their lands, and steal their resources, giving support for colonization and slavery.
In the New Testament, Jesus Christ sent his disciples to go and steal somebody's donkey. He even told the disciples what to say if they get caught.
As for stealing...
Imagine that, during colonization, you live with your parents in a village. Meanwhile, you work as a housekeeper in the house of a colonizer. The colonizers are planning to attack your village and kill everybody. If you happen to see the plan they will follow, are you going to steal it to take it to your king so the village can prepare and escape death from the colonizers?
Sometimes, stealing is necessary. It depends on various factors.
This is probably the only commandment that makes sense in this list. Still, once again, this commandment doesn't acknowledge some circumstances in which a bad deed could be beneficial.
Overall, you should not bear a false testimony against anybody, but some unforeseen situations may drive a person to lie, such as sacrificing one person to save a whole community, just like the Bible itself advocates.
This is one more stupid commandment. Regardless of how much you think "coveting" is wrong, the crime committed here is in the thought. This is one of the mind manipulation tricks of religions. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ states that anybody who thinks of a so-called sin has already committed a sin in his heart (Matthew 5:28).
This commandment is a demonstration of the mind manipulation techniques of religions. Don't pay attention to it.
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