11 strong suggestions

Far easier to live by, and actually pretty easy to follow.

The world would be a better place.

kma??

I like George Carlin's thoughts on the ten comandments, and how he condensed them into three.
1. Always be honest and faithful to the provider of thy nookie
2. Try not to kill anyone, unless they worship a different imaginary man in the sky than you do. And
3. KEEP THY RELIGION TO THYSELF!

jah i like that, tatnik!

KMA=Kiss My Ass

Carlin's onto something there and the 11 suggestions are pretty good, too.

Mr. Underdown's exegesis is somewhat off the mark, though, and surprisingly literal-minded. Believe it or not, most Jews and Christians do not insist on a literal understanding of everything in the Torah or full Bible.

There just might be ways of understanding the first three commandments, for instance, slightly more broadly or at least to explore where they came from and what they might mean in ways that have applications for other religions or even for non-believers. But let's set that aside.

If we're going to be somewhat literal:

No. 4 says "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy," not "anyone who works on Sunday is going to hell." Granted, some have interpreted it that way, but that is hardly the only way to read it. At the very least, priests and pastors could be said to be following this commandment, um, to the letter, could they not?

No. 5 presumes nothing more than that your parents are your parents. Whether they are worthy of honor may be a subject of some dispute, but it's a bit more interesting, IMO, to consider why this commandment might ask us to honor them regardless. (I am not saying whether one ought to follow this or not in all cases, just that it's somewhat interesting philosophically and morally and has value in that way, at least.)

No. 9, usually condensed as "Don't lie," actually does not say that or mean that. Of course we tell lies, though we generally believe it is better not to do so. No thoughtful person, however, would claim that there are NO situations in which it is better to lie. The commandment might better be condensed as, "Don't commit perjury." That is, don't go to court and lie about what you witnessed.

No. 10 seems to me like pretty damn good advice. Yep, our economy, our lives, often seem completely driven by covetousness. This is an argument against the commandment? Because it actually applies to our lives? I would maintain - as would Buddhists and many others - that it is the desire for these earthly possessions (or for anything we do not have) that causes the greatest suffering.

Anyway, that's my interpretation. You know, we don't have to throw out every old teaching just because it's old.

No one follows all the rules, so it is obvious someone would reject them, today more than ever we should expect that. Yea, the Bible also said that everyone has done plenty of less than perfect stuff, we just don't acknowledge the fact that "wrong" simply means it is going to hurt you or me in the long run. The reason these laws make sense even until today is because they were not written by some smart person, but a creator who knows what crap we get into.

"Be nice" just doesn't cut it for me. lol

well...I hate to inform some of you "geniuses" out there but common sense, per se, isn't a religion, (unless you strictly count "secularism" I guess...anyway...)

much thanx Blazesboy (yours is truly an HONEST and at least a much more objective "interpretation"), EricaJay, jdchristianson... I think Underdown and other crabby buttmuncherz like him should take their own advice and phukn "Suck it up and quit bitching."

you might think the 10 commandments was actually something they were *forced* to chip-implant in their foreheads or cite verbatim as a daily mantra or something before walking out the front door; or god forbid, something they might at least consider on some level to be better people or something. Huh...go figure that, right? with such an "outcry" (phukn crybabies!) you might even think they'd have to give up their gas guzzlers and take a donkey to work, to be just as unrealistic as they take it.

truthfully its phuktop, the mentality of fools to cheaply, weakly feign "progressive" or "intelligent" merely by vogue of singularly, knocking Christianity and going on with the bs suggestion it's so entirely irredeemably irrelevant, antiquated, or somehow without any just merit to be considered worth anyone's time... It's just more of this "freedom from religion" crap rather than the truly rightful "freedom OF religion" (You don't hear half these prix bitchin about the Daily Llama, dew u? hehe) y'know, i simply figure, if you wanna take an unrealistic view of it and decidedly decide christianity doesn't "work" for you with all the self-professed glories of your "higher" values...glory on mfer!! just don't bitch about what else you don't really know or care not to know!

I don't necessarily agree with Jehovah's witnesses, but you know, I don't bitch and moan when I find an occasional "Watchtower" stuffed inside my screendoor. When I see my (and your!) president making his speeches between two huge nazi symbols i don't necessarily cry because they're there! Rather, and imho more importantly, I scream at the phukn CHARACTER these mferz display treating their fellow man like shit!!!!

And please...to cite George Carlin is just wannaB bs hehe...(if I can "knock" one of your idols, you cultish mferz! lol) He's controversial so he can sell tickets foo! and he cowtows to feminism and women so...guess what! =D he can get LAID at his shows!!! lol God knows he needs help getting there without being all by himself... maybe you'd like to help?? =D go ahead and be his guest...because, just bitching about these 10-"so pathetic I'm gonna cry!"-commandments wouldn't necessarily make you any of mine...

Moses (a symbolic any person) who goes to the top of (his/her) mountain and faces the darkest misunderstanding of his/her life and people (perhaps contemplating suicide due to his/her feeling unclear why he/she is here). After facing this most dark place in the “Moses Ego” he/she reaches enlightenment (Buddha-ness?). This enlightenment gives clear vision to what has always been available to the “Moses” in each of us (Dorothy, Leave the heart (scarecrow), brain (tin man) and courage (ego- lion) behind and all you needed to do was click those slippers and you are home(enlightened)) Now that you are home (enlightened) everything looks the same but different. The bush is now a burning bush. There is wisdom in everything around and none of it has to do with intellectual wisdom. The labels of everything don't matter to this new wisdom and are even useless. It is so clear it may has well be “etched in stone.” Maybe it is etched in every stone and not just those tablets this guy carried down from a mountain in an old fairytale. Maybe it is etched in more than just stone. Anyway, that was his mountain. I have mine and you have yours. This “Moses” is born, lives and dies in our society constantly. Many of these “Moses-es” even right books about it. My hope is that we can find that “Mosses” in each of us. And that is my 2 cents on thinking about Moses.

It's not the daily llama, it's the Dali Lama. The way you spell it, makes it sound like a livestock periodical. If you're going to rant at least be able to fucking spell! And your argument confused me, are you ripping on the people ripping on the ten commandments, or are you ripping on the ten commandments.

=D lol awww comon! don't ruin it! tit for tat, tatnik...i'm well aware. lmao! It's just more FUN this way =D ...mimicking the very kind of DISSrespect shown here (and by Underwood if you happened to read the article) for the "deeper and "truer" meanings of the christian tenets of faith, you see =P lol ...isn't he "resigning" anyway...or threatening to? [i.e. the "Daily Llama" lol] ;P ...oh well I guess i should take "my own" medicine and show some damn respect shouldn't I... *sigh* Okay... for the record it's not "Daily Llama" (LOL) =D (ahem!...regaining composure) it's *piously* (how'd that go again tatnik??? ...oh yeah!!!) "Dali Lama" =D

satisfied??? ;) (echoz putz on sum "Jesus" Jones for at least a vague sense of respite...NOT) =)

anyway...where did I lose you tatnik? ...ummm perhaps it may make it more clear to learn that Jehovah's Witnesses are NOT christian per se (in the traditional sense...Michael Jackson was weird enough to join 'em I recall.)??? *shrug* or how bout... "much thanx Blazesboy (yours is truly an HONEST and at least a much more objective "interpretation"), EricaJay, jdchristianson... I think Underdown and other crabby buttmuncherz like him should take their own advice and...(ahem) "Suck it up and quit bitching." meaning "11-Suggestion" proponets should make their "suggestions" (which appeal to little more than common sense but with which I have no real problem with) BUT without knocking the 10-time-tested-Commandments as "irrelevant" or "antiquated" in utter disrespect to those who believe they're STILL good. (hence my playful Daily Llama LOL!!!) =D

does that sums it up a little more clearly? =D thanks tatnik.

oh btw...actually spelled "right" tat' it's actually Dalai Lama ;D

Yeah I realized that about an hour ago, lol.