An Atheist's view of the 10 Commandments (Part 2)

This is a continuation of my earlier blog post.  Find it here.

 

6. Thou shall not kill.

Ironically, it doesn’t say “thou shall not murder.”  I think it’s important to understand that this commandment does not limit killing to human life.  In addition, for people who put god first- above the Constitution, they need to realize that owning a gun- an item intended to kill- is a sin.  As is eating meat.  But I digress.  Most atheists would agree with this to the point of murder.  Many more would go for the whole thing: practicing vegetarianism and pacifism.  Because we atheists don’t believe in an afterlife, we take life on this earth very seriously.  It is all we have.  Therefore, it is our purpose in life to make this experience as valuable for as many living beings as possible, mainly because it is so fleeting.   This is why we tend to be so passionate about the environment and welfare of other people.  A word about abortion here:  no wherein this mandate does it define life as beginning before the viability of the mother.  I’m crazy about abortion, but there are women who should not be mothers.  And those women almost never put their children up for adoption.  If a woman has made up her mind to have an abortion, she will have an abortion- legal or not.  If we really want to stop abortion, which I wouldn’t be against at all, then we must put into place the programs which will prevent them.  Programs like healthcare, education and birth control.  And we must keep abortion legal in order to gauge the efficacy of these programs.  Planned Parenthood does all of these things and as a result has prevented more abortions than any other organization in the world.  So called “pro-life” people who are trying to kill planned parenthood are actually doing more to promote abortion than to stop it.

7. Thou shall not commit adultery

In an earlier blog, I talked about the Morality of Sex.  The gist is that sex itself is not a moral issue.  And there’s nothing in this Commandment that would indicate otherwise.  This Commandment is about keeping one’s commitment to one’s spouse to not have sex with another person.  Therefore it’s more about honesty than it is about sex.  I don’t think I know of any atheist who could disagree with this.  Good people keep their word because that is one of the building blocks of a good society.

8. Thou shall not steal

Again, I think this is a no brainer.  If we want a fair, efficient society, we must agree to treat each other honestly and with respect.  That respect includes not stealing what someone else owns.  However, I think it’s important to remember that this mandate can only be enforced if we do everything within our power to make sure that everyone’s basic needs are met.  I can fault someone for stealing an iPod.  It’s much different when someone is stealing food for their child.  After all, it’s a biological need.  It’s still not right to steal, but if I also do nothing to prevent this situation, then I do have some responsibility in this as well.

9. Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

This is about more than just lying.  It’s about making up stuff and spreading it about someone else.  So there are two parts to this.  The first is lying.  Lying is one of the most subjective ethical principles.  It’s really not always bad to lie.  For example, there’s the old adage about living in Nazi Germany and hiding a Jewish family.  Then an SS officer comes knocking at your door, asking if you’ve seen them.  If you commit to honesty then you must tell him and send the family to their death.  I don’t think anyone, theist or atheist, would say that lying in this situation wasn’t a good thing.  And who hasn’t embellished a story by exaggerating a detail.  Is that really such a bad thing?  I think the biggest thing about lying is that when it’s bad, it’s usually bad because of some other action.  To put it into Christian terms: it’s a gateway sin.  Bad lies are usually to cover up or plan something bad like stealing or adultery.  So in a way, lying isn’t necessarily bad, it’s what the lie is about that’s bad.

However, there is one instance when lying in and of itself is bad, and this Commandment hits the nail on the head.  Just making stuff up about someone, for the only purpose of ruining their good name is evil.  I have relatives who tried to start a rumor about a mutual friend being a pedophile.  Now I was present at the “event” that they pointed to as their proof and saw the whole thing with my own eyes.  It was nonsense, but they kept insisting that he had molested that child at that event.  When I asked them why they didn’t call the police they hemmed and hawed and finally one of them said it wasn’t their place to call the police.  I knew then and there that they were lying about the person, and worse yet, they knew that they were lying, but to this day have refused to own up to it or apologize to the man for it.  That one lie told me so much about these people, not the least of which is that they wanted this to be true.  They wanted a child to have been molested just so that they could talk about this person.  As a result, I have chosen not to have anything to do with them.  In fact, I have decided to keep my distance from anyone who still remains friends with them.  I feel the greater degrees of separation, the better.  I don’t think you have to believe or not believe in God (and for the record, those people are Catholics whose lives revolve around the Church) to gain insight to how evil this is.   None of us would want that done to us, nor would we want these kind of lies to be widespread. 

10. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s house (wife).

The word covet implies an extreme desire for something.  I think for the most part, this is one of those church preserving mandates, in that the church doesn’t want you to desire material goods too much (so that you will give them all of your extra money).  Nevertheless, I could see some wisdom in this from a pragmatic standpoint.  I think this could be about obsession and making material things more important than people and principles.  When referring to coveting the wife, I would like to think it meant not to objectify another human being by desiring them like a possession.  But knowing the history of the Bible as I do, wives were just “possessions” and therefore “things.” 

The Golden Rule: Love your neighbor as yourself

The one thing I find about most western atheists is that they are very well versed in the Bible and Christianity.  I have never met any atheist that said the Golden rule is wrong.  In fact, most atheists I know agree that Jesus, if he existed, was a pretty cool dude.  Like me, he was a political liberal and therefore a personal hero of mine and I do try to live by principles that Christians call “Christlike.”  But I don’t need for him to be deity to see the value in living that way.  The Golden Rule is awesome and a very good principle to live one’s life by.  But it was awesome 500 years before Jesus was attributed with saying it, when Confucius said it.  I think it fosters compassion which is a necessary part of a moral and ethical life and society.

The bottom line is:  People are either good or bad.  And this is true whether or not they believe in a god.  I find that for good people of faith, their religion makes it easier for them to be good.  I’m all for that and think if that’s the case, by all means, please continue to believe (and please, be my friend- I love people like you).  My problem with religions and religious people is a direct result of people who go to churches and espouse beliefs, but then act directly the opposite of those beliefs.  They like the aspect of religion that allows them to dupe others into believing they are good people, but then they behave in some of the most immoral ways ever.  You know these people because they are the ones who espouse hatred of other groups.  They point out the sins of others and tell you who is and isn’t going to hell.  They espouse “righteous indignation” and always seem to be looking for a reason to get pissed off about something.  Instead of making them stronger (as with the people who espouse love and tolerance) they seem to hide behind the veil of their religion, thereby justifying their fear and anger (although anger comes from fear-so that is a bit redundant).  I’m not sure what is the answer for those people, but religion certainly isn’t it.