1. The highest ideals are human intelligence, creativity and love. Respect these above all.No, this implies discrimination based on intelligence and creativity. Are dullards not worthy? Love qualifies under “love your neighbor as yourself’; it’s part of the “Greatest Commandment”.
2. Do not put things or even ideas above other human beings. (Let's scream at each other about Kindle versus iPad, solar versus nuclear, Republican versus Libertarian, Garth Brooks versus Sun Ra— but when your house is on fire, I'll be there to help.)Still “love your neighbor as yourself”, with a tad of “no idols”, Second Commandment.
3. Say what you mean, even when talking to yourself. (What used to be an oath to (G)od is now quite simply respecting yourself.)Don’t lie. Ninth Commandment. Or something.
4. Put aside some time to rest and think. (If you're religious, that might be the Sabbath; if you're a Vegas magician, that'll be the day with the lowest grosses.)Respect the Sabbath. Fourth Commandment.
5. Be there for your family. Love your parents, your partner, and your children. (Love is deeper than honor, and parents matter, but so do spouse and children.)Still “love your neighbor as yourself”; honor is necessary where love fails. Fifth Commandment mixed with Greatest Commandment.
6. Respect and protect all human life. (Many believe that "Thou shalt not kill" only refers to people in the same tribe. I say it's all human life.)Don’t murder. Sixth Commandment, which doesn’t mention tribes at all.
7. Keep your promises. (If you can't be sexually exclusive to your spouse, don't make that deal.)No adultery. Seventh Commandment.
8. Don't steal. (This includes magic tricks and jokes — you know who you are!)Don’t steal. Eighth Commandment.
9. Don't lie. (You know, unless you're doing magic tricks and it's part of your job. Does that make it OK for politicians, too?)Don’t lie. Ninth Commandment.
10. Don't waste too much time wishing, hoping, and being envious; it'll make you bugnutty.Don’t covet. Tenth Commandment.
There are a couple of things to observe here. First is that Jillette has merely taken the Ten Commandments and purged them of God references, specifically stripping out the First and Third Commandments, and taking a sideswipe at the Second. He didn’t come up with his own commandments, he plagiarized the original ideas.
Removing the source of the original commandments brings up the next issue: why would anyone think that Jillette is the moral authority for humanity? He didn’t even mention the usual Atheist hot buttons, which are universal empathy and social justice, so it's likely that many other Atheist “moral authorities” will surely contest Jillette’s selection. The only reason that Jillette makes the news with stuff like this is his prior celebrity in the area of professional mass deception. It is really doubtful that Jillette’s commandments will make it much farther than USA TODAY.
8 comments:
"First is that Jillette has merely taken the Ten Commandments and purged them of God references"
Which was his intention.
"Don’t lie. Ninth Commandment. Or something."
You might want to look again. The ninth commandment is literally "You will never make false accusations" (The word accusations implies accusations in front of judges or a court of law). It took hundreds of years before some we expanded it to apply to slander.
The challenge made by Beck was for Jillette to come up with his own commandments.
As for the ninth commandment, yes it is literally do not lie about your neighbor. So taking an oath applies, right? Or do I misunderstand your point?
yes it is literally do not lie about your neighbor.
No. It literally says
לֹֽא־ תַעֲנֶ֥ה בְרֵעֲךָ֖ עֵ֥ד שָֽׁקֶר׃ ס
The ayd when used concretely means "A court witness" and when used in the abstract it means "testimony or accusations (before judges)".
So, no, it does not literally say "do not lie about your neighbor".
Maimonides in his Sefer Hamitzvot put the 576th Mitzvot under "judicial procedure" so for centuries the meaning for this commandment was understood.
You can easily prove this for yourself by looking at your Bible and finding the other locations where the same Hebrew phrase is used.
Ok I defer to your information. And then I ask, how is this pertinent to the issue at hand? Are you saying that lying is alright except in court, according to the ten commandments? If so, then that seems to agree with Jillette at least to some extent.
If you are saying that there is no extension from not lying about your neighbor (in court) to not lying in general, I wonder how you come to that conclusion? Strictly literalist interpretation?
And again what does this have to do with Jillette, which is the actual subject here?
I think I grew up the same way Hunter did. :-) It looks like he's pointing out that you are basing your post on a foundation of false assumptions.
I'm going to pick up Hunter's ball and run with it further.
According to the text, to whom do the "Ten Commandments" apply?
To the Jewish People! Not only does Moses make this clear but the "Ten Commandments" themselves start with "I am the YHWH, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."
If you are not from the people YHWH brought out of slavery in Egypt then YHWH isn't talking to you.
Instead there are 7 laws that YHWH gave that apply to all mankind. These laws are refered to as the Noachide Laws.
Look, if YWHW meant "Do not lie" he would have said that.
Jillette is doing a Jefferson on the Ten Commandments. He believes there is a kernel of experience-earned goodness buried in religion. He's just trying to dig it out.
If I was writing ten commandments, I'd put "No slavery","Do not rape" and "Do not molest children" in there but that's just my modern ethics shining through.
The original point has been completely obscured by the literalism in the comments that has been thrust upon the Ten Commandments. Literalism regarding the Ten or Seven Commandments or Noahides or whatever has no bearing on the point being made.
The original point is the irony of a vocal Atheist Evangelist taking the religious tenets for his own use while rejecting only the source of moral authority which gave those tenets value, and substituting himself in that role.
And the question remains, why should anyone consider Jillette to be the ultimate source for moral authority? Or even a minor source for moral authority?
What remains after Jillette excised the original moral authority are not commandments at all: Jillette cannot offer either incentive or consequence other than his own opinion. So what Jillette has claimed to be "commandments" are nothing more than opinions, and carry no more weight than merely the "Ten Opinions of Penn Jillette".
"the irony of a vocal Atheist Evangelist taking the religious tenets for his own use"
I could say the same thing about the irony of Christians taking my people's religious tenets and modifying them for their own use but I'm not sure if you would understand it.
Now that you have obviously said it, explain what the particulars are that you find ironic so we can discuss them. Presumably you are Jewish, and you seem to think that Christianity entails a rejection of Judaism or the source for its moral authority. So there is irony in that somewhere?
This is a forum about Atheism, and digressions into subsets of theological ecclesiasticism are not part of the purpose here.
But I am curious about your statement.
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