Those Commandments

I had made a mental note to write a posting on the ten commandments, so I downloaded the most pervasive online source of misinformation, Wikipedia, on the subject. Imagine my surprise when I learned that the same passages from the Hebrew Bible (Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21) are interpreted in different ways by the Jews, Anglicans, Orthodox, and Roman Catholics. They can’t even agree on the numbering. How can I write an agnostic piece about the ten commandments if I can’t even refer to them by number? To make matters even more complicated, the Muslims have a completely different set of ten commandments. To be sure, all sets make considerable reference to “man’s duty to God” and also “man’s duty to man.” (Sorry, but the English language doesn’t seem to easily allow for a non-gender specific version of that statement.)

All versions put considerable emphasis on regulating sexual activity (Thou shall not commit adultery and Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s wife), and all refer to killing, stealing, and lying. But it seems the various religions don’t agree on the meaning of the words. Jewish sources claim that “stealing” refers to kidnapping rather than the stealing of property and most Christians other than Catholics think that “killing” only refers to murder. I guess I’ll have to wait until they come to an agreement before I can write my piece on the ten commandments.

In the meantime, I prefer to be governed by the inscription on the temple to Apollo at Delphi, “Meden Agan - Moderation in all things.” So, I’ll sin in moderation, eat in moderation, drink in moderation, have sex in moderation, etc. Seems like a good plan to me.

And, BTW, here is the late George Carlin on the subject: click here.