Comments on: Morality and the 10 Commandments

By: Leah

Leah — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:57:25 +0000

I’m not sure this is a fair criticism. To put it in math geek terms (my native tongue), I don’t think most religious people make the argument that the 10 Commandments are a complete basis set for morality (i.e. you cannot derive every true moral theorem from them alone).

In fact, Christians would definitely argue that the Old Testament (home of the 10 commandments) is incomplete, since Jesus establishes a new Covenant that is different from the one previously applied to the Jews.

CNN is just doing sloppy reporting.

By: NFQ

NFQ — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:03:24 +0000

Wow, this is really fascinating. In particular, I am intrigued by the first response statement, “No. There is no commandment against this.” What’s surprising to me is that the exact same response could have been given to many of the other ethical dilemmas, but this commenter was willing to stretch the context of the commandments to make them fit vaguely similar situations. There is no commandment about speaking up against offensive jokes. There is not even a commandment about offensive jokes. The commandments certainly have nothing to say about email! (Also, of course, “honor your father and mother” might mean, “offer to show them your emails,” but I don’t see how it means “Mom and Dad, snoop away!”) There is no commandment explicitly linking “honor” to “lend money,” and no commandment equating “father and mother” with “entire extended family plus friends.” There is no commandment about having fantasies about someone who is not your spouse if you don’t actually want those fantasies to come true in reality.

I think it’s pretty clear that this comment submitter is reading a lot of their own context and interpretation into the commandments in order to apply them to these questions — illustrating the very point they are trying to refute. The commandments are anything but sufficient.

By: Middlemet

Middlemet — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:52:36 +0000

2. Stealing pens from banks. I’ve never thought those were for taking. I thought they were there as a convenience to customers who might not have their own handy.

That one is just an aside, though. The one I really wanted to talk about was the “Is it OK to sneak a peak at your child’s email.” I think I might find, within the context of a 10C framework, the idea that if you as a parent request to see your child’s email, then the child under the HonorC might be required to present it. That’s a different kettle of fish, though, from doing it without their knowledge. Just because a child has to honor you doesn’t mean you get an ethical carte blanche to violate their trust and privacy. You could justify all sorts of wacky parental behavior with that kind of logic.