Breaking a Ten

Philosophy Forums Religion and Spirituality
1

The Latest Decalogue

Thou shalt have one God only; who
Would be at the expense of two?
No graven images may be
Worshipped, except the currency:
Swear not at all; for thy curse
Thine enemy is none the worse:
At church on Sunday to attend
Will serve to keep the world thy friend:
Honor thy parents; that is, all
From whom advancement may befall:
Thou shalt not kill; but need not strive
Officiously to keep alive:
Do not adultery commit;
Advantage rarely comes of it :
Thou shalt not steal; an empty feat,
When it’s so lucrative to cheat:
Bear no false witness; let the lie
Have time on its own wings to fly:
Thou shalt not covet, but tradition
Approves all forms of competition.
–Arthur Hugh Clough (1819-1861)

Nothing’s changed since Clough wrote his satire.

2
  1. What does God have to be jealous of other than disbelief? There are no other Gods unless one rationalizes that a competing God amounts to what a person’s heart’s treasure is.
    Will the real God show himself. herself, itself with compassion toward what is human other than with envy?
3

A tribal God would have seen the gods other than “him” as threats. A universal god would not be threatened by “false gods”.

4

No revised decalogue among the many posters here?

5

I liked it.
As for the divine pet peeve… Who the fuck knows but god? He might say: “I is the principle of it. If your child called the cat mom, it would bother you”.

6

The OT God defined “himself” as "I am: pure Being, with no room for jealousy. In any event, do you have a revised ten?