The Ten Commandments

[OnceConvinced]

Have you ever looked at the ten commandments and wonder what the hell was God thinking? Why did he put these ten things above all else? I can understand most of them, but certainly not all.

Just take a look at them:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: (for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;)
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates
5. Honour thy father and thy mother
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

The first three commandments are all about God and if they are that important to him then it shows us what an insecure and jealous God he is (Note that jealousy is a sin). That’s 30% of the commandments! Is God’s ego that delicate that he had to include 3 commandments such as this? Then you have laws like “thou shalt not covet” which seems to be small fry in the sin department next to many other things. “Thou shalt not commit adultery” also seems to be a small fish in a big pond when things like rape and paedophilia seem to be given a very low priority.

So what about some of the other important stuff? Where are all the other commandments that would seem to be so incredibly important? Where is…?

Thou shalt not take another human being as a slave (You’d think God would take a harder line on this issue)

Thou shalt not rape (Sexual crimes seem to be unimportant as far as God’s concerned when it comes to the 10 commandments - apart from adultry. In fact the bible says God expects rape victims to marry their abusers)

Thou shalt not take drugs (or something like that. After all, God knows what will happen in the future and must have surely known it would become a major problem further down the line. He is either short sighted or has no knowledge of what will happen in the future.)

I am aware there are a lot of issues dealt with in other parts of the Torah relating to immoralities, however the 10 Commandments seem to stand out as God’s main issues and that is what I am trying to focus on here.

So my questions:
What commandments that haven't been included do you think should have been included and why?
Should any have been omitted? Why?
Should any have been reworded or elaborated more on?.

[cnorman18]

I have now proven, beyond doubt, the following FACTS:

(1) You absolutely did get this material from an antisemitic hate site. You could have not have found it anywhere else.

(2) You absolutely did NOT find this material in the Talmud yourself.

(3) You absolutely could NOT have gotten this material from the Talmud site to which you gave a link. That site does not contain a word of it.

I leave it to our readers to draw their own conclusions about your truthfulness, your motivations, the depth of your commitment to the principles of your religion, and your character.

I agree and all he had to do is post his real source.
He got caught.

He couldn't post his real source and keep up the pretense that it wasn't antisemitic. I'm sure he's been searching frantically for a site that has this material that doesn't preach Jew-hatred and (usually) other forms of bigotry and craziness, but he isn't going to find one.

Antisemitic material comes only from antisemitic sources. Duh. And if you mistake "plainly antisemitic" for "factual," you are either incredibly ignorant or antisemitic yourself.

[Cathar1950]

I have now proven, beyond doubt, the following FACTS:

(1) You absolutely did get this material from an antisemitic hate site. You could have not have found it anywhere else.

(2) You absolutely did NOT find this material in the Talmud yourself.

(3) You absolutely could NOT have gotten this material from the Talmud site to which you gave a link. That site does not contain a word of it.

I leave it to our readers to draw their own conclusions about your truthfulness, your motivations, the depth of your commitment to the principles of your religion, and your character.

I agree and all he had to do is post his real source.
He got caught.

He couldn't post his real source and keep up the pretense that it wasn't antisemitic. I'm sure he's been searching frantically for a site that has this material that doesn't preach Jew-hatred and (usually) other forms of bigotry and craziness, but he isn't going to find one.

Antisemitic material comes only from antisemitic sources. Duh. And if you mistake "plainly antisemitic" for "factual," you are either incredibly ignorant or antisemitic yourself.

It does look like he lied but for some that is OK if you wins souls or convince yourself you are right.
I don't care if it came from an anti-Semitic site, the point is that the data was false and he doesn't five the site.
I tend to think they (Bible Believing Christians with their 19th century theologies) are all a little anti-Semitic as it is written into the NT. They also look at the Hebrew writings when anything the Hebrews did wrong somehow equates to all Jews today and always where they feel they are in the position of privilege.
Granted the Hebrew writings have lots of bad things to say to people they felt were not measuring up to what ever standard the writer used. Sometimes they looked at the problems as relationship and others covenant and even others commandments and ritual against those that were for the cults and rituals.
What messy minds they must have as they try and believe it all.

But he clearly got caught and apparently he was trying to belittle writings other then the Christian OT and belittle Jews in general. Except those that accept Jesus as he does of course.

[JoeyKnothead]

LOL

Those more fundamental members of religions seem to have this compelling need to distort, belittle, and undermine any reasonable contradicting notions.

I notice this is often done with no evidence, or distortions thereof.

[OnceConvinced]

LOL

Those more fundamental members of religions seem to have this compelling need to distort, belittle, and undermine any reasonable contradicting notions.

I notice this is often done with no evidence, or distortions thereof.

It's one of the things I observed for many years as a Christian. They are more likely to be honest about their beliefs with other Christians, but when it comes to non-believers many will exagerate and even lie just to get them to convert to their way of thinking.

[lifeandtruth]

Have you ever looked at the ten commandments and wonder what the hell was God thinking? Why did he put these ten things above all else? I can understand most of them, but certainly not all.

Just take a look at them:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: (for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;)
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates
5. Honour thy father and thy mother
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

The first three commandments are all about God and if they are that important to him then it shows us what an insecure and jealous God he is (Note that jealousy is a sin). That�s 30% of the commandments! Is God�s ego that delicate that he had to include 3 commandments such as this? Then you have laws like �thou shalt not covet� which seems to be small fry in the sin department next to many other things. �Thou shalt not commit adultery� also seems to be a small fish in a big pond when things like rape and paedophilia seem to be given a very low priority.

So what about some of the other important stuff? Where are all the other commandments that would seem to be so incredibly important? Where is�?

Thou shalt not take another human being as a slave (You�d think God would take a harder line on this issue)

Thou shalt not rape (Sexual crimes seem to be unimportant as far as God�s concerned when it comes to the 10 commandments - apart from adultry. In fact the bible says God expects rape victims to marry their abusers)

Thou shalt not take drugs (or something like that. After all, God knows what will happen in the future and must have surely known it would become a major problem further down the line. He is either short sighted or has no knowledge of what will happen in the future.)

I am aware there are a lot of issues dealt with in other parts of the Torah relating to immoralities, however the 10 Commandments seem to stand out as God�s main issues and that is what I am trying to focus on here.

So my questions:
What commandments that haven't been included do you think should have been included and why?
Should any have been omitted? Why?
Should any have been reworded or elaborated more on?.

These commandments cover each area of our lives and can be used for our benefit of an enriched and fulfilling life. Just by taking the first one, it places our focus on the Creator who knows the best for us since he created us. Anything that we put above Him will cause us to take our eyes off Him and loose sight of the best things that God can give to us. This includes drugs, which would be a god to us and destroy us since we put that before the true God. He knows the best for us and is not being insecure by wanting us to focus on Him, but taking care of us since He knows that anything else is not going to satisfy us and will lead to selfishness and destruction.

There isnt any that should be omiited when we realize that the entire group of 10 cover our relationship with God and our relationship and concern for other humans. If we love God above all things and then love our neighbor as ourself, the entire set of the 10 are then being obeyed. This creates in us a fellowship with our Creator, giving us the best things in life that He created for us. It also gives us a love for our fellow man and in doing so would create a safe and ideal world if we all followed that plan. Either way, we become honorable, honest and trustworthy in our earthly relationships.

[TXatheist]

Have you ever looked at the ten commandments and wonder what the hell was God thinking? Why did he put these ten things above all else? I can understand most of them, but certainly not all.

Just take a look at them:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: (for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;)
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates
5. Honour thy father and thy mother
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

The first three commandments are all about God and if they are that important to him then it shows us what an insecure and jealous God he is (Note that jealousy is a sin). That�s 30% of the commandments! Is God�s ego that delicate that he had to include 3 commandments such as this? Then you have laws like �thou shalt not covet� which seems to be small fry in the sin department next to many other things. �Thou shalt not commit adultery� also seems to be a small fish in a big pond when things like rape and paedophilia seem to be given a very low priority.

So what about some of the other important stuff? Where are all the other commandments that would seem to be so incredibly important? Where is�?

Thou shalt not take another human being as a slave (You�d think God would take a harder line on this issue)

Thou shalt not rape (Sexual crimes seem to be unimportant as far as God�s concerned when it comes to the 10 commandments - apart from adultry. In fact the bible says God expects rape victims to marry their abusers)

Thou shalt not take drugs (or something like that. After all, God knows what will happen in the future and must have surely known it would become a major problem further down the line. He is either short sighted or has no knowledge of what will happen in the future.)

I am aware there are a lot of issues dealt with in other parts of the Torah relating to immoralities, however the 10 Commandments seem to stand out as God�s main issues and that is what I am trying to focus on here.

So my questions:
What commandments that haven't been included do you think should have been included and why?
Should any have been omitted? Why?
Should any have been reworded or elaborated more on?.

The first four commandments are there solely to protect god and to deal with his insecurities. Notice how they also have the most verbiage. God takes forever explaining how we should not worship idols, but when it comes to murder, he simply says, "don't do it." Number 5 should be disregarded altogether because you should not honor your parents simply because they are your parents. You may have a couple of idiotic, drug addicted, violent, abusive, worthless human beings for parents, and it would be wrong to honor them simply because god said so. The remaining 5 commandments are so elementary that anyone with any sense of morality whatsoever could have come up with them. The Buddha came up with them and he had never even heard of the Christian god. You will also find them in any other religion. Basically, the ten commandments are half common sense and half god's rules to protect himself.

The Buddha stated The Five Precepts as:

1. Do not kill
2. Do not steal
3. Do not indulge in sexual misconduct
4. Do not make false speech
5. Do not take intoxicants

Remove the supernatural from the ten commandments and you are left with a very similar list. You basically just swap "Do not covet" for "Do not take intoxicants." But not coveting is part of the foundation of Buddhism. I appreciate that the Buddha was wise enough to add "Do not take intoxicants" while the Christian god left that one out.

[FinalEnigma]

Have you ever looked at the ten commandments and wonder what the hell was God thinking? Why did he put these ten things above all else? I can understand most of them, but certainly not all.

Just take a look at them:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: (for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;)
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates
5. Honour thy father and thy mother
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

The first three commandments are all about God and if they are that important to him then it shows us what an insecure and jealous God he is (Note that jealousy is a sin). That�s 30% of the commandments! Is God�s ego that delicate that he had to include 3 commandments such as this? Then you have laws like �thou shalt not covet� which seems to be small fry in the sin department next to many other things. �Thou shalt not commit adultery� also seems to be a small fish in a big pond when things like rape and paedophilia seem to be given a very low priority.

So what about some of the other important stuff? Where are all the other commandments that would seem to be so incredibly important? Where is�?

Thou shalt not take another human being as a slave (You�d think God would take a harder line on this issue)

Thou shalt not rape (Sexual crimes seem to be unimportant as far as God�s concerned when it comes to the 10 commandments - apart from adultry. In fact the bible says God expects rape victims to marry their abusers)

Thou shalt not take drugs (or something like that. After all, God knows what will happen in the future and must have surely known it would become a major problem further down the line. He is either short sighted or has no knowledge of what will happen in the future.)

I am aware there are a lot of issues dealt with in other parts of the Torah relating to immoralities, however the 10 Commandments seem to stand out as God�s main issues and that is what I am trying to focus on here.

So my questions:
What commandments that haven't been included do you think should have been included and why?
Should any have been omitted? Why?
Should any have been reworded or elaborated more on?.

These commandments cover each area of our lives and can be used for our benefit of an enriched and fulfilling life. Just by taking the first one, it places our focus on the Creator who knows the best for us since he created us. Anything that we put above Him will cause us to take our eyes off Him and loose sight of the best things that God can give to us. This includes drugs, which would be a god to us and destroy us since we put that before the true God. He knows the best for us and is not being insecure by wanting us to focus on Him, but taking care of us since He knows that anything else is not going to satisfy us and will lead to selfishness and destruction.

There isnt any that should be omiited when we realize that the entire group of 10 cover our relationship with God and our relationship and concern for other humans. If we love God above all things and then love our neighbor as ourself, the entire set of the 10 are then being obeyed. This creates in us a fellowship with our Creator, giving us the best things in life that He created for us. It also gives us a love for our fellow man and in doing so would create a safe and ideal world if we all followed that plan. Either way, we become honorable, honest and trustworthy in our earthly relationships.

The problem is, there isn't any reason why onceconvinced's commandments should be omitted and the other kept in. you said that if you are following the first commandment then you are following all the others, and even the ones ones he mentioned besides. when then why are there ten commandments and not one?

I know somebody who's father is an alcoholic and drug addict who has screwed up his life.

why is honoring him more important than not raping people?

[JoeyKnothead]

From Page 18 Post 175

These commandments cover each area of our lives and can be used for our benefit of an enriched and fulfilling life. Just by taking the first one, it places our focus on the Creator who knows the best for us since he created us.

My issue with a strong emphasis on the Ten Commandments is that so many theists claim this, but are unable to show they actually do speak truth (tm).
From this one simple point then follows all kinds of carrying on and such that has not been shown to be the wants or wishes of the proposed God, other than as humans "interpreting" a book they wrote to begin with.

Anything that we put above Him will cause us to take our eyes off Him and loose sight of the best things that God can give to us.

I contend it is the over-reliance on unproven god theories, and unproven claims of what a given god wants that is the greater harm.
Notice there is absolutely no way of knowing what a given god wants, again, other than humans interpreting the very books they write.

This includes drugs, which would be a god to us and destroy us since we put that before the true God.

I think about folks that try to "pray away" childrens' illnesses and wonder whether the "drug" of religion is not an equal harm. Folks dying over their own drug use is less of an issue for me than those theists that eschew sound medical practices when their own children are involved.

He knows the best for us and is not being insecure by wanting us to focus on Him, but taking care of us since He knows that anything else is not going to satisfy us and will lead to selfishness and destruction.

So it is said. I challenge anyone who claims to know the wants or wishes of their proposed god to show they speak truth.
Other than the book making the claims, how can we know lifeandtruth is able to discern what God wants?

There isnt any that should be omiited when we realize that the entire group of 10 cover our relationship with God and our relationship and concern for other humans.

This is the kind of thinking that really gets my goat. Some theists think nothing of imposing their own brand of religion / superstition / morality on others, while considering any disagreement as some sort of demon, Satan, or some other insulting term.

If we love God above all things and then love our neighbor as ourself, the entire set of the 10 are then being obeyed.

I have absolutely no love for a god that would condemn my fellow human beings for being just that.

This creates in us a fellowship with our Creator, giving us the best things in life that He created for us.

Some folks don't want this "fellowship" with a god they consider quite atrocious, capricious, egotistical, or some such other negative descriptor.
It astonishes me how folks can read the Bible and take away a "loving" God.

It also gives us a love for our fellow man and in doing so would create a safe and ideal world if we all followed that plan.

Are you saying folks can't love their fellow man without some God getting involved?

That's a ludicrous, near scandalous claim if you do.

Either way, we become honorable, honest and trustworthy in our earthly relationships.

The implication here is those who don't worship according to a given religious perspective can't achieve these goals.

I find this line of "reasoning" nothing more than a not so subtle attempt to insult others, or to claim a moral high ground without offering evidence for truth.

I personally am quite fed up with some theists claiming a superior moral attitude simply because they believe in some God they can't show exists.