The Ten Commandments whether you are religious or not
Give a basic sound set of rules for living in harmony with your neighbours.
You shall not put a false GOD in place of me nor make for yourself any idol
Nor make wrongful use of the name of your GOD.
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy - a day to reflect and not labour, to count our blessings because however bad things seem it could always be worse.
Honour thy mother and father - without them we wouldn't be here, they are our closest kin.
You should not murder - well we all know that without that rule none of us would or could be happy, we are social creatures living in communities. If murder was acceptable we would not have survived this far in the social structure that we all enjoy, life would be very different.
You should not commit adultery - Again a good rule, if you break this rule you just KNOW it is going to cause pain and misery to those closest to you, and quite possibly have repercussions that could ripple on for a long time.
You should not steal - Another good rule, by stealing, someone innocent is the victim, by stealing you are trying to gain at the cost of someone else and that is not the path to happiness and peace of mind.
You should not bear false witness - perverting the course of justice (or lying) only helps those who are already in the wrong, so in the whole how can that help the innocent, and as such the community in which you are a part?
You shall not covet thy neighbours house - Jealousy or envy I never know the difference, but I do know it's not a healthy emotion, it can only cloud judgement and detract from other more meaningful pursuits.
You shall not covet your neighbours wife - To my understanding more or less the same as above, again concentrating on someone else's wife can only cause misery and blind you to other possibilities.
Just imagine how close to perfect our civilisation could be if everyone followed this one fundamental.
Do unto others as you would have done unto you.
It seems that you have forgot the second commandment - the one that deals with "graven images" and you have "split" the 10th one to make the number come out...Your commentary is very nice and relavant, but the omission leads me to think there is something else to it.
The only denomination that does this at the present time is the Catholic church...Would you happen to be a member of this church?
I think the omission of this commandment is a mistake, because modern man is more guilty of making "things" or even "people" items of worship than ever before...When this happens, we break the first commandment, and the rest just fall in line.
Your opinion, please...
Harry