Today, I am taking on morals in religion.
More Specifically: The Ten Commandments and sex before marriage.
I'll also refer to two hypocritical Christian role models who are not the exceptions.
First off, the Ten Commandments: (there are differences here, but it's basically the same)
1. I am God and you shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol
3. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God
4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy
5. Honour your parents
6. You shall not murder
7. You shall not commit adultery
8. You shall not steal
9. You shall not bear false witness
10. You shall not covet your neighbour's wife
Let's begin.
1. I have explained why there is no God. Let's assume I am wrong and there is a god. Why would he have to make laws forbidding worship of other gods if he really is the only god?
2. See 1.
3. Wrongful use of the name of your God? What would constitute "wrongful?"
Using his name as a swearword? Who would do that? And why? People swear. They swear very colourfully and imaginatively. People who use the thing they worship and deem to be above all else as a swearword are just stupid. That's like me using my father's name as a swearword. The ONLY reason I can think of that people use the expletive "Jesus Christ!" is because the 3rd commandment forbids it.
4. Jesus himself reminded us of the stupidity of this law by working on a Saturday. For those of you who don't know, The Sabbath is on a Saturday. SUNday is the day God created the SUN. The FIRST day. Someone has just decided to change it. Because they had God's holy permission. Don't ask.
So... how many shops are open on a Sunday? There are millions of people who work every Sunday. Are they going to hell? Or will their mortal sin be forgiven? Why aren't people allowed to work on Sundays? Because it is decided by the bible. And the bible is never wrong (see "the bible is a work of fiction," a previous blog).
5. Why should I honour my parents? I only honour people who deserve it. My parents are intelligent and caring people who have cared for me my entire life. They deserve my respect.
But if I was raised by a father who abused me, I would not honour him. Even if he was my only source of income. (http://www.azcentral.com/ent/arts/articles/0225Mormon-Memoir-ON-CP.html)
The fifth commandment has been created by lazy parents who do not want to teach their children themselves. They want to refer to the bible and tell them "honour me cause the bible says so."
6. This is the most obvious of rules. The Jews escaped from Egypt and then created the Ten Commandments. What a coincidence (wouldn't you say?) that Egypt also had laws against murder and theft? The bible is not the basis of all morals. Some people tell me: "If it weren't for the bible, I wouldn't be as good as I am."
Let me ask you this:
If you see a man hitting a little baby, will you think "God tells us not to harm others; therefore I must feel bad right now." Or will you simply feel instant grief at such a sight? Empathy and/or sympathy are emotions built into the human brain. Primates and other intelligent mammals have it as well.
7. This is very subjective, and I won't go too far into this topic.
All I'm going to say is this:
If what you do does not (directly or indirectly) hurt any person, is it really wrong? I can agree that it is wrong to deceive someone and that person would be hurt if he/she finds out. But what if both parties agree to go their separate ways and experiment for a while? I know of a few couples who have done this. They say it has deepened their love for each other. They are exceptions, of course, but you cannot make rules which does not fit everyone and assume that it will.
And besides, no primates, and almost no mammals, are monogamous. Why are we the exception? I can love more than one person. In more than one way. I'm not going to deny people my love and attention just because someone else has "reserved" it. Do not try to twist my words around. I will never willingly deceive someone I love.
8. Refer to 6.
9. You shall not lie? Okay... So you can swear, hurt people by telling them exactly how ugly, stupid, etc. they are. But you can't lie? You can vandalize public property, torture small animals, hit children and women and force others to believe what you think is right. But you can't lie? What if you get into a situation where you will hurt someone's feelings by telling the truth?
Lying is normal. The effect and the reason for the lie is more complicated, but not all lies are evil.
10. WOW! So women are property now?
Let's disregard that sexist comment and assume that it refers to coveting things in general.
Google defines covet as:
"Wish, long or crave for."
If I did not covet living in a better home, eating good food and making a difference in this world, I would not have worked hard in my life. In fact, I would just have to sit there and be happy with what I have until I die of starvation. The bible tells us we may not covet. If human beings did not covet, the capitalist system would have fallen apart. Because no one would want anything MORE out of life. They would just resign themselves to whatever fate they are given.
The human race itself is dependant on greed.
And, to finish off the 10 commandments:
The list is incorrect.
The original Hebrew text says:
"You may not kill a Jew."
"You may not steal from a Jew."
Etc.
So the 10 commandments are in actual fact extremely bigoted and racist.
Next: Sex Before Marriage.
Why? Why do you want to wait until marriage to have sex? I can understand if someone waits until marriage for a good reason, but no one has given me one.
"Don't you want your wife to be a virgin?" is the best answer I've been able to get from a person.
My answer is: I don't care. If I marry someone, it will be because of her (or his, if I was gay) personality, intelligence and, to a degree, (I have to be honest) looks. It will be a combination of factors. "Pure" sex is not one of them.
To me, sex is an expression of love and devotion. I will not have sex with someone I don't feel strongly about, but I won't tell people that they can't have sex with anyone they want. If you say sex with any person you want is wrong, why would it be okay to make out with anyone you want? Both are expressions of love and lust. The one carries a higher risk of infectious diseases and children.
According to http://www.gotquestions.org/sex-before-marriage.html there are only two reasons why we should not have sex before marriage.
1. The bible says so (and the bible is always right)
2. There is a risk of STD's
If I breathe close to someone, I also risk infecting that person. Does that make it wrong to breathe when people are nearby? No it doesn't.
Another problem is that people say that relationships built on only sex, have a higher chance to end in divorce. OF COURSE it will end in divorce. It's built on only sex. Sex is just one part of a relationship. People who depend on only one aspect of a relationship are doomed to failure. But that does not make sex wrong. People who love their partner (or partners) in more than one aspect, are the ones who are more likely to have a lasting, meaningful relationship.
And the web sites keep saying that sex is NOT wrong, even though they keep telling everyone about the "evils of sex." It should only be practiced between husband and wife. Did you know that marriages used to be secular (not religious at all). The Romans (as far as I can tell) invented weddings. And then the Jews changed the custom to fit their own needs.
And then I'd like to end this blog with a short comment on a photo I saw recently.
It was a photo of two girls kissing intimately. I focused on the low quality cellphone photo and recognised the pair of girls. They are two very committed and well known Christian leaders. They believe in the Ten Commandments. They believe that "homosexuals are sinners who will burn in hell."
And they kissed each other.
At first I found this extremely funny. Then the implications of that photo dawned of me. And it became very sad.
These are hypocrites. Not exactly the worst kind of hypocrite, but definitely very high up on the Hypocritic scale. They not only believe that homosexuality is wrong. They also preach it. And then they kiss each other.
Usually I try to stay objective, but right now I'm making a slight exception:
What pisses me off most of all is that they are not the exceptions. Most Christians I know believe that homosexuality/premarital sex/lying/cursing/hurting people/etc. is wrong. But they still persist in doing exactly what they tell others is wrong. And I, who actually obey my own laws, am looked down upon by these hypocrites.
Next blog, I'll be taking the side of evolution.
My sources for this blog:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments
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