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The alternative to the Ten Commandments cited by [[Richard Dawkins]] in [[The God Delusion]] is<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ebonmusings.org/atheism/new10c.html| title=The New Ten Commandments| accessdate=2009-03-30}}</ref>: |
The alternative to the Ten Commandments cited by [[Richard Dawkins]] in [[The God Delusion]] is<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ebonmusings.org/atheism/new10c.html| title=The New Ten Commandments| accessdate=2009-03-30}}</ref>: |
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− | # Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you. |
+ | # Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you. ''See [[Golden Rule]].'' |
# In all things, strive to cause no harm. |
# In all things, strive to cause no harm. |
||
# Treat your fellow human beings, your fellow living things, and the world in general with love, honesty, faithfulness and respect. |
# Treat your fellow human beings, your fellow living things, and the world in general with love, honesty, faithfulness and respect. |
Revision as of 07:40, 30 July 2012
Ten Commandment Alternatives are alternatives to the Old Testament Ten Commandments. Several alternative versions have been created, and no consensus exists as to a single authoritative version. An alternative to the Ten Commandments was recently popularized by Richard Dawkins in his book The God Delusion.[1]
Examples
- Are the commandments below better for modern living than the Bronze Age commandments in the Bible?
- The answer should be obvious.
Richard Dawkins
The alternative to the Ten Commandments cited by Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion is[2]:
- Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you. See Golden Rule.
- In all things, strive to cause no harm.
- Treat your fellow human beings, your fellow living things, and the world in general with love, honesty, faithfulness and respect.
- Do not overlook evil or shrink from administering justice, but always be ready to forgive wrongdoing freely admitted and honestly regretted.
- Live life with a sense of joy and wonder.
- Always seek to be learning something new.
- Test all things; always check your ideas against the facts, and be ready to discard even a cherished belief if it does not conform to them.
- Never seek to censor or cut yourself off from dissent; always respect the right of others to disagree with you.
- Form independent opinions on the basis of your own reason and experience; do not allow yourself to be led blindly by others.
- Question everything.
Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens on the Ten Commandments [3]
- Do not condemn people on the basis of their ethnicity or their color.
- Do not ever even think of using people as private property.
- Despise those who use violence or the threat of it in sexual relations.
- Hide your face and weep if you dare to harm a child.
- Do not condemn people for their inborn nature. (“Why would God create so many homosexuals, only to torture and destroy them?”)
- Be aware that you, too, are an animal, and dependent on the web of nature. Try to think and act accordingly.
- Do not imagine you can avoid judgment if you rob people [by lying to them] rather than with a knife.
- Turn off that fucking cell phone.
- Denounce all jihadists and crusaders for what they are: psychopathic criminals with ugly delusions and terrible sexual repression.
- Reject any faith if their commandments contradict any of the above.
A.C. Grayling
The Good Book, compiled by A.C. Grayling, features ten commandments in The Good 8:11:
- Love well
- Seek the good in all things
- Harm no others
- Think for yourself
- Take responsibility
- Respect nature
- Do your utmost
- Be informed
- Be kind
- Be courageous
These come with the post-thought that the reader "at least, sincerely try" and an addendum in (The Good 8:12), "Add to these ten injunctions, this: O friends, let us always be true to ourselves and to the best in things, so that we can always be true to one another."
Socialist Sunday Schools
Socialist Sunday Schools propagated a socialist set of ten commandents.
- Love your schoolfellows, who will be your fellow workmen in life.
- Love learning, which is the food of the mind; be as grateful to your teacher as to your parents.
- Make every day holy by good and useful deeds and kindly actions.
- Honour good men, be courteous to all men, bow down to none.
- Do not hate or speak evil of anyone. Do not be revengeful but stand up for your right and resist oppression.
- Do not be cowardly. Be a friend to the weak and love justice.
- Remember that all good things of the earth are produced by labour. Whoever enjoys them without working for them is stealing the bread of the workers.
- Observe and think in order to discover the truth. Do not believe what is contrary to reason and never deceive yourself or others.
- Do not think that he who loves his own country must hate and despise other nations, or wish for war, which is a remnant of barbarism.
- Look forward to the day when all men and women will be free citizens of one fatherland and live together as brothers and sisters in peace and righteousness.
References
Template:Reflist
External links
Adapted from Wikipedia
- ↑ Template:Cite book
- ↑ Template:Cite web
- ↑
- Hitchens, Christopher, "The New Commandments", Vanity Fair, April 2010, [1]
- Christopher Hitchens reading the Vanity Fair piece in video format