If I was starting a new society and in the position to choose the ethical Decalogue for my people, I would choose rules that would especially apply to my people and the time and culture in which they where settled.
This is the ethical Decalogue that I would wish choose for my people if set in this day and age:
- Do not kill for sport, entertainment, research, hatred, jealousy or desire. A life may only be taken: as an act of defense, with permission of the being or for the greater good of the living.
- Treat all your neighbors as equals.
- Do not desire or envy the property of another.
- Do not bear false witness unless for the greater happiness of another.
- Do not steal.
- Respect and honor your family and friends.
- Do not take or desire more than you need, be content with what you have.
- Do not become envious of the possessions of others.
- Give generously to the needy.
- Do not be unfaithful to those of whom you love.
I chose these rules to serve as the Law for my ‘society’ to protect my people, to keep themselves safe from their own sin and to show them, what is right and wrong.
I also took some of my inspiration for my Decalogue from ‘the seven deadly sins’ or cardinal sins as they are otherwise known as. The seven deadly sins are a classification of objectionable offences against others and God. They have been used since early Christianity to inform Christ’s followers of the imperfections and flaws of the human mind. This classification educates people in the rights and wrongs of life and helps them to reevaluate their lives. One of my chosen rules that were inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins was; “Do not become envious of the possessions of others.” This was taken from the sin of envy which leads to unhappiness and dissatisfaction.
I believe that my set of rules would be of great importance to many people and would benefit a great majority of those that kept to them. My hope is that my rules might achieve peace, equality, happiness and contentment throughout by helping to reduce prison numbers, pulling people up out of the poverty trap and restoring family relationships.
Some of my rules are already law in many countries, in order to help and maintain the protection of all and to bring those who do wrong to justice.
One of my ten rules is ‘do not steal’ and in Britain and most other countries theft is already a punishable crime depending on the situation, theft goes against the current political law and the laws of morality and decency.
I believe that it would be in the best interest of many people to take up my rules as law to improve the lives of themselves and of others. The specific rules that I believe should become law are: treat all your neighbours as equals and do not kill for sport, entertainment, research, hatred or desire. A life may only be taken in serious cases as an act of defense or mercy, with the permission of the being or the greater good of the living.
I realize that there are similar laws already in the justice system although I believe that my variation on these original laws will be of more use than the ones currently in place. My rule regarding the taking of a life includes more specific situations in which a life may be lost.
The Ten Commandments are of great importance to many of the different religious faiths and their followers, especially Christianity, Judaism and Islam. The Ten Commandments are not just laws to be followed and abided by, they are also moral judgments.
The Ten Commandments instruct people not to steal, murder or tell lies. It tells its followers to honor and obey their parents and avoid jealousy, it also explains how one must stay true to their religion and keep it sacred. The Ten Commandments are a way of life, a code of conduct, made to protect its followers and keep them safe from sin.
My own adaptation of the Ten Commandments, my ethical Decalogue is quite similar to the original interpretation in that it shares similarities in some of the more common sense laws such as: Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor and honor thy mother and father. I have taken these that I believe to be most important from the Ten Commandments and adapted them to suit my views on the matter, for example; rule V ‘honor thy mother and father’ I do not see that this rule should only apply to your parents but your whole family, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings and all those who care for you and love you.
I have excluded all reference of God from my Decalogue, removing the first four of the Ten Commandments from possibly being chosen. I did this in order to make my rules as free and open to members of all religions as possible.
I have also added some different rules, with my inspiration for those from the Seven Deadly Sins; I took my inspiration from this because I found many similarities between the Ten Commandments and the Seven Deadly Sins. They were both created in order to bring good to this world and prevent sin although the Seven Deadly Sins were conceived in order to apprehend the emotions that could ultimately lead to the breaking of the Ten Commandments.
Pride can lead to bearing false witness; jealousy can lead to the coveting of that which does not belong to you. Anger can lead to violence, war and death, lust can incite adultery. Envy and gluttony can provoke theft.
Within Christianity the Ten Commandments have usually been interpreted as the foundational laws of Christianity, of which all Christians are expected to conform to. Most Christians hold the laws sacred and in high esteem and attempt to fulfill the wishes of the lord and live free from sin.
The Ten Commandments form a small but vital part of the Jewish laws, just ten out of the total 623 laws contained in the Hebrew Scriptures. The Decalogue has been accepted as a summary of the most important rules of behavior of which God expects all his people to follow. In Judaism the Ten Commandments are considered to be so important that in every synagogue (Jewish place of worship) the Ten Commandments engraved on replica stone tablets sit in pride of place, in the most sacred place in the synagogue above where the torah is kept where everyone can see them.
In the Islamic holy book (the Qur’an) seems to urge Islamic follower to conform to these religious laws, although the actual text of the Ten Commandments is not contained in the Qur’an.
People of different religions respond to the Ten Commandments in different ways. Some might disregard them altogether while others meekly abide by them.
The Ten Commandments are a brief summary of certain basic rules of behavior and good conduct some of which should relate to societies throughout time, although nowadays the commandments do not specifically address some of the most common of moral controversies, such as abortion, corporal punishment, assisted suicide, and homosexuality.
Those of non Abrahamic religion may have qualms with following some of the commandments in the Decalogue such as the first four regarding God and how he must be served and kept sacred. This is because it may interfere, either with their own religion or their own personal views. The other six commandments are common sense laws that most people, no matter what their religious yearning, seek to follow to their best abilities, partly to do good and partly for fear of the ultimate punishment.
Personally I believe that the Ten Commandments are extremely valuable rules for the world today to follow and abide by, in order to make the world a better place and maintain peace and harmony.
The human soul is careless, flawed and imperfect and no matter what rules are put forward, where there is temptation, sin follows close behind and the consequences loom in the distance.