Ten Commandments Revisited

Some east Texas yahoo is putting forward legislation to allow the ten commandments to be displayed in public schools.  He states the usual silliness:

“This is necessary to protect teachers who have the desire to establish that the country’s historical background is based on Judeo-Christian traditions,” he said. “This might be a reassuring step to the people that we are wanting to maintain and hold on to those historical findings of how our country was founded.

“And anything that helps build the morals of our young people would be helpful,” Flynn said. “For too long, we’ve forsaken what our Judeo-Christian heritage has been. Our rights do come from God, not from government.”

It’s clear to me that these particular commandments are not so special or even the best choice for a top ten list of relevant moral imperatives.  Yet I am frequently asked about their centrality and challenged with claims that society would just fall apart without them.

So here’s my take on this top ten list, based on the Jewish numbering and the list as found in Exodus 24:

1) I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;

This is not really a commandment, just a statement.  This is probably why Christians combine it with one or both of the following commandments.  Other than emphasizing the Exodus narrative when Yahweh slaughtered all those first born Egyptians, it serves no real purpose.

2) Do not have any other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

A command not to make idols is not a moral imperative.  If there’s anything related to morality here, it’s the highly immoral intention of God to punish children for their parents’ crimes.  It was so distasteful that Jeremiah and Ezekiel both ruled it out.  The rabbis didn’t much like it either.  When they chose the text of Exodus 34:6-7 as the “thirteen attributes of God’s mercy,” they cut verse 7 right in half because its continuation promised that God would be “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and unto the fourth generation.”

3) You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

Who knows what this means?  Don’t say “Yahweh?”  Don’t swear a false oath in Yahweh’s name? (And how does that differ from “don’t lie?”)  Don’t say “goddamit?”  I don’t know either.

4) Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.  For six days you shall labor and do all your work.  But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.  For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.

I guess it’s a good ethical practice to allow your employees and animals to rest and good advice to do so yourself.  Oh yeah, and your slaves, too.  Wait…what?  Wouldn’t a real basis for morality say something like, “Slavery is a no-no?”

5) Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Nice and moral.  Except the part about the land which is just tribal.  Also, it’s copied from the Code of Hammurabi and other texts so it’s not particularly original.

6) You shall not kill/murder.

Copied from Hammurabi.  Also self-evident.

7) You shall not commit adultery.

Nice and moral.  Sort of.  In the bible it only applies to adultery with married women.  If you’re a married man you can fool around with whoever you want if she’s not married.  That’s how she gets to be your wife.  Also copied from Hammurabi.

8) You shall not steal.

Nice and moral.  Copied from Hammurabi and so very obvious.

9) You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Bearing true witness is definitely moral.  It’s also obvious and also copied from Hammurabi.

10) You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

I see how coveting your neighbor’s wife can get you in trouble.  The rest of the covets are sort of the basis for capitalism (and with the slave part, more like capitalism in the Confederacy).  Plus, the whole idea of regulating people’s wants and desires is rather authoritarian.  What’s immoral about really wanting a Benz like your neighbor’s?  Work hard and go buy one.  Hell, buy his if he’ll sell it.  Oh yeah, this one’s also copied from Hammurabi.

So there you have it, five and half-ish moral imperatives that anyone could come up with and many did, completely independent of the Torah.  As far as modern morality goes, I could come up with a better top ten list over drinks with friends.