Ten Commandments
by V.E. on June 8th, 2008
filed under personal, thoughts, words
I was thinking about Why I’m ashamed and was wondering how many of the Ten Commandments I’ve actually broken. Here’s the list, with comments.
01 You shall have no other gods before Me.
Um… Seeing as God is apparently a jealous God and I don’t think that’s fair since we’re not supposed to be jealous/envious (see the tenth commandment below), I think sharing is fine. So, multiple gods (that is, sharing the deity) is fine. I’m not as bad as some people, and I tend to believe in only one God because that makes things simpler, but I’ve prayed to variations of God in the past, so I’m not sure how this plays out.
02 You shall not make for yourself an idol.
I’m sure I do this every time I must have that new [insert awesome new thing here]. Again, I’m not as bad as some people, but I have to say I have done this in the recent past.
03 You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain.
HAHAHA! Definitely done this one. Moving on.
04 Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
If people could just decide once and for all which day the Sabbath is actually supposed to be, I might be inclined to take this commandment more seriously. But, I think this is a people problem, not a God problem, and I think that taking a day off from work for rest is generally a good thing, though I’m not so stuck up that I think we should all read the Bible from morning to night that day.
05 Honor your father and mother.
I think if I thought about stealing or lying as dishonoring to my parents, I’d be less likely to do those things. But I don’t really, so I keep doing them, even though I know if I get caught they could get into trouble, too. I don’t think I actively not do this one, but I also don’t think I really do it very well, either.
06 You shall not murder.
This is the only commandment I can say with certainty that I’ve never done. Unless I read the Catholic version, which says “You shall not kill” and then I’ve done that one, too. Damnit. Does stepping on ants count? Or eating bacon when I was like in 4th grade?
07 You shall not commit adultery.
Hmm. I haven’t done this to my knowledge. Is it still adultery if the other person isn’t married but is in a serious, committed relationship?
08 You shall not steal.
I do this. It’s an obsession. I’m trying to stop, but it’s compulsive.
09 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Also known as, “Do not lie.” Which I have. A lot. Just read my thesis.
10 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house or wife.
Or covet his other stuff, either, I assume. I don’t think I’ve ever coveted someone else’s house or wife, but I have probably lesser things. I’m thinking that “Depends on your definition of covet” isn’t exactly the right response here.
The Ten Commandments seem simple enough, especially 6, 7, and 8 since they’re not in flowery language or anything. But I see a lot of gray in them, and I wonder if that means I’m just not a good Christian or something. I mean, one word can change the meaning of the sentence, like in #6. All murder is killing, but not all killing is murder. So which is it? And if it really is “You shall not kill,” how is it okay to eat meat or fish? Somebody has to kill those things before we eat them. Or do animals not count? Do these commandments only apply to people? Well, what about someone like Hitler, who doesn’t think an entire section of people are people? Is it okay to kill someone who you know is less human than you? How do you even know that for sure?
The only one I can see without any ambiguity is “You shall not steal” and I know I’ve done that one. My track record is pretty sad.
