What would your 10 commandements say?

[Gozu]

If you absolutely had to come up with 10 commandements for mankind to try and make a better world for your grandchildren to live in, what would they be?

For the sake of brevity, let's have a 20 words limit on each commandement.

I'll start:

1-Thou shall love and cherish those you disagree with.

2-Thou shall not steal.

3-Thou shall not FUCKING KILL GODDAMNIT! WE ARE NOT KIDDING!

4-Thou shall not be cruel to God's creatures.

5-Thou shall not limit what others can say or write or punish them for it.

6-Thou shall treat the less fortunate as you would God's dearest children.

7-Thou shall strive to make the world a better place and whine as little as possible.

8-God's mercy was to make you mortal. Nobody's suffering lasts forever.

9-Thou shall pet cats and feed them tuna, unless you're allergic, in which case God is sorry.

10-Thou shall be forgiven as much as you forgive others, so be forgiving for it brings you closer to the Lord.


Ahh, that felt nice. Nothing like laying down divine commandements to make one feel big :D

[Antinor01]

This has to fit somewhere....There is a time to talk and a time to shut the hell up. Thou shalt learn the difference.

[tdn]

Hmm, I have to do an atheist version of this.

1. Thou shalt not lord your religion or lack thereof over others.

2. NO KILLING! THAT MEANS YOU!

3. Don't take other people's stuff.

4. Be nice.

5. Be responsible for your own happiness.

6. If thou art male, put the seat down. If thou art female, check first.

7. Thou shalt not be a dumbass.

8. Thou shalt reread commandment number seven.

9. Yes, that means you.

10. I'm serious about that.

[FarmerChick]

I only have one.

Treat others as you would like to be treated.

It's known as "The Golden Rule" for a reason.

[tdn]

Not to be confused with the Golden Shower Rule.

11. Thou shalt not confuse the two.

[Shirley Ujest]

Never miss an opportunity to take a pee.

Always be kind.

Make 'em laugh

Do not shit in the well from whence you drink.

do not spread gossip.

Do not discuss Politics, Economy, Abortion, Religion ever.

[pbbth]

1. Thou shalt be responsible for yourself.

2. Thou shalt not kill-killing is bad and is the fastest way to achieve smiting.

3. Thou shalt not steal or take anything that does not belong to you.

4. Thou shalt leave others the hell alone and let them do what makes them happy so long as it doesn't directly effect you and your happiness.

5. Thou shalt strive to leave the world a better place than you found it.

6. Thou shalt not be prejudiced against people for their race, creed, religion, handicaps, weight, or any other reason that you could be prejudiced against someone.

7. Thou shalt not be needlessly cruel to any living thing.

8. Thou shalt take everything in moderation.

9. Thou shalt not be bitchy about everything all the time.

10. Thou shalt take into consideration the consequences of your actions.

[Really Not All That Bright]

1. Steal underpants.

2-9. ????

10. Profit!

[LurkMeister]

I only have one.

Treat others as you would like to be treated.

It's known as "The Golden Rule" for a reason.
I would add (because it might not occur to most people that it's implicit in The Golden Rule):

Never pass up the chance to do a kind deed, or say a kind word.

[UncleRojelio]

1. Thou shalt use thine turn signals
2. Thou shalt not use thine cellphone while driving.
3. Thou shalt lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way.
4. Thou shalt decide on thine order before getting in the drive thru lane.
5. Thou shalt pull into the intersection at unprotected left turns on the green light.
6. Thou shalt not use thine horn in anger.
7. Thou shalt not display thine middle finger.
8. Thou shalt not kill other driver's, no matter how much they are asking for it.
9. Thou shalt not apply makeup or read while driving on the freeway.
10. Thou shalt buckle all children in the vehicle.

[Khadaji]

Almost all of mine can be summed up with: Don't piss me off!

OK, I'll have to think about it.

[Gala Matrix Fire]

1. Don't litter.
2. Pick up after yourself.
3. Don't ruin something that's beautiful.
4. Be kind to pedestrians.
5. Be kind to the less fortunate.
6. Serve somebody.

I'll need time to think of the rest.

[MsWhatsit]

1. Don't be a jerk.

[sinjin]

From "Hair"

You know kids, I wish every mom and dad would make a speech to their
teenagers and say kids, be free, be whatever you are, do whatever you
want to do, just so long as you don't hurt anybody.

[Digital Stimulus]

Do not talk about Digital Stimulus's commandments
Do NOT talk about Digital Stimulus's commandments
...

The rest don't matter, as no one can talk about them.

Hopefully, that'll also solve the aJudge Ray Moore (http://www.iwgonline.org/statements/) idiocy that seems to crop up every so often.

[Daerlyn]

1 - Read the manual.
2 - If, after reading the manual, you still don't know, then ask.
3 - Don't be an asshole.
4 - Deal with consequences.
5 - Sex? Not that big of a deal. Thou shalt not freak out over other people's libidos
6 - Learn to compromise.
7 - Don't confuse compromising with bending over backwards.
8 - Keep your opinion to yourself if no one's in danger.
9 - Don't spoil your kids.
10 - Slow the hell down (both literally and metaphorically).

[Jackknifed Juggernaut]

Courtesy of Bell Biv Devoe:

"Never trust a big butt and a smile"

I suppose we could have a separate list of "Commandments of Hip Hop"

[Argent Towers]

1. Fighter jets are badass.

2. Freddy Got Fingered is a hilarious and disgracefully-underrated film, and it is thine duty to watch it at least once a year. Fail to do so, and burn in hell.

3. Thou shalt not eat the meat of the turkey vulture. It's fucking disgusting, man.

4. Don't knock it if thou haven't tried it. I'm referring to drugs, by the way.

5. The number of sexual partners you've had is directly proportional to the size of the mansion you'll get in Heaven.

6. Mad Max fucking kicks ass.

7. Thou shalt not pressure other people to pass the joint/bowl. Far from being a tradition of hipster egalitarianism and sharing or whatever, it's actually really annoying and creates unfair pressure. Let him take his time with the joint if he wants to. You're not at military school or something. There's plenty of weed to go around. Everyone has weed. Relax.

8. If you take out your knife, you can't put it back until it has tasted blood.

9. Eric Clapton is overrated as a guitarist.

10. Steely Dan has way more songs than "Do It Again" and "Reelin' In The Years," and almost all of them are amazing. If you criticize Steely Dan and your only experience of them is their songs that get played on the radio, or in supermarkets, you will be put to the sword. You can only criticize Steely Dan if you've listened to a wide sampling of their catalog of songs.

[olivesmarch4th]

Thou shalt have no moral imperatives.

[Mongo Ponton]

1. Thou shalt not wake me up!

2. Drive, Goddamnit! What's the matter with you?!

3. Thou shalt give a fuck about what you're doing.

[AHunter3]

I. I might be wrong. Thou shalt refrain from believing anything that I say without seriously considering that I might be fuill of shit no matter what reputation or authority I end up claiming, or is claimed in my name.

II. Anyone Else Might be Wrong. Thou shalt similarly refrain from ensconcing any authority as definitely known truth, but shall instead suspend belief long enough to question everything, even as thou shalt proceed as best possible under provisional assumptions.

III. Thou Shalt Not Coerce. Insofar as thou knowest not right from wrong or indeed anything else beyond doubt, thou shalt not deliberately structure physical or social forces in such a way as to remove or reduce the option of considered choice from those thou dealest with.

IV. Thou Shalt Strive. In a world where certainty of right and wrong is not objectively definable, thou shalt care and trust to thine own feelings and passions, and shalt do what thou wilt in service of truth as thee discerneth it, so long as thou coerceth not.

V. Thou Shalt Bridge Divisions. Whensoever two things doth be characterized as opposites, thou shalt consider ways in which a view not in accordance with either perspective doth exist. Thou shalt such vantage points consider and question thee all dualities. Remember thee this, that all divisions are cuts, and thou hast done the cutting, and could cut differently.

VI. Thou shalt contemplate what God ought to be, should God exist, if God were made manifest as one such as thou art; and havingt so contemplated, thou shalt live as if thou wert God made flesh, embodying all that God ought to be.

VII. Thou shalt Forgive. In a world of uncertainty and where one must strive for truth and should care, yet may be wrong, one's companions and acquaintances and comrade sentient beings in similar strife shall wrong thee, hurt thee, or disappoint thee, and thou shalt love and forgive them and hold no grudge or harbor no thirst for vengeance, however small.

VIII. Thou shalt inquire. In a world of uncertainty, thou shalt seek understanding. Thou shalt love thine own curiosities, and seek wisdom and knowledge, whilst still knowing that uncertain thou shalt remain.

IX. Thou shalt transcend. Thy body ageth, and withereth, and so becomes not fit for life, and shalt die. If who thou art is mere individual, thou dost die ignorant; find thy shared self in ideas, in communities of others, in processes, and in such identity thou shalt live forever.

X. Thou shalt stop counting commandments. I thinketh X of these is yea pretentious. Thou writest thine own. If thou needest another to provide commandments, thou hast fallen asunder of the commandment to strive and inquire. Be thou a writer of thine own commandments instead.

[Alice The Goon]

1 - Read the manual.
2 - If, after reading the manual, you still don't know, then ask.
3 - Don't be an asshole.
4 - Deal with consequences.
5 - Sex? Not that big of a deal. Thou shalt not freak out over other people's libidos
6 - Learn to compromise.
7 - Don't confuse compromising with bending over backwards.
8 - Keep your opinion to yourself if no one's in danger.
9 - Don't spoil your kids.
10 - Slow the hell down (both literally and metaphorically).


These are good. I will say all of these, but replace #2 with "never, ever wear a fannypack or allow your loved ones to wear them".

[LouisB]

1.0 Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

2.0 Love your neighbor as you love yourself, without regard to race, creed, color, or national origin.

3.0 Repeat 1.0 & 2.0 as necessary.

[Der Trihs]

1: Thou shalt not worship anything or anyone, including these Ten Commandments.

2 : Thou shalt not initiate violence.

3 : Thou shalt not harm those who disagree on matters of taste or opinion.

4 : Thou shalt not ignore the facts nor distort one's reason to serve one's fantasies or prejudices, nor make up imaginary things to base one's decisions upon.

5 : Thou shalt not own or subjugate any human equivalent thinking being.

6 : Thou shalt treat the needs and desires of others as being of the same innate worth as your own.

7 : Thou shalt not cause unnecessary suffering.

8 : Thou shalt consider the consequences of one's actions to all people, present and future, as best as you are able.

9 : Thou shalt not intrude upon the privacy or bodies of others against their desire, save to protect others, or in case of the mental disorder or ignorance of the individual.

10 : Thou shalt not treat or regard others as inferior or evil because of their appearance, ancestry, family, or nation.

[DeadlyAccurate]

I like Der Trihs's #2 better than a blanket "Thou shall not kill." Mine would be, "Thou shall not murder. If you're forced to kill in defense of yourself or others, don't beat yourself up too much about it."

I don't know if I could come up with 10, but:

1) Mind your own damn business.
2) Don't murder.
3) Don't steal.
4) Treat others the way you wish to be treated. Or better.
5) I mean it. Mind your own damn business.

[Ronald C. Semone]

I only have one.

Treat others as you would like to be treated.

It's known as "The Golden Rule" for a reason.

I have always thought that this was a terrible rule and the cause of much resentment among people. It assumes that others want to be treated the same way you want to be treated, which isn't always the case. It should be "Do unto others as they want you to do unto them." Of course we can't always know what other people want us to do unto them and often the best guide may be what we think we would want in the same situation, but our focus should still be on what they want, not what we want. I had a boss once who thought he was doing me a big favor by giving me as an assignment a task he would have loved doing when he was in my place. He never thought about what I wanted. I hated the task and left the job shortly thereafter. He lost a good employee by following the Golden Rule.

[Roland Orzabal]

Hmm. Are these personal or moral commandments? I'll split mine in half.

Personal:

1. Thou shalt not be a dick.*

2. Thou shalt remember, at all times and in all situations, that other people are human, and treat them accordingly.

3. Thou shalt taketh of thy chill pills; ignore minor inconveniences where possible.

4. Thou art not all that awesome, and even if thou weres't, thy neighbor would still not want to hear about it.

5. Thou shalt mind thy own damn business.

*Thou should not need the phrase explicitly defined, but if thou dost: "being a dick" is doing something with the specific intent to cause another person anger, sadness, embarrassment, or general distress of any kind.

Moral:

1. Pragmatism is the essence of evil; under no circumstances do the ends ever justify the means.

2. The source, and therefore the basis, of all morality is the individual.

3. Morality applies only to willful actions of individuals; physical entities of any kind are innately amoral.

4. The authority to judge the morality of an action lies solely with those individuals directly affected by that action.

5. An action is immoral if any of the individuals directly affected by it deem the intent of the action to be so; if none do, the action is moral or amoral.


Those last five should tell you why I stay out of political debates around here. ;)

[Sitnam]

I have only one.

1 - Thou shalt not need an imaginary parental figure empowered with omnipotence and infallibility to cast common sense into divine annals as a weapon for the righteous. Seriously, it'll be a problem one day.

[ITR champion]

After thinking about this for a while, I concluded that I can't improve upon the original. Therefore:

1. Worship the one true God, and no other deities.

2. Do not worship any physical object.

3. Do not invoke the name of God when it is inappropriate to do so.

4. Keep the Sabbath holy.

5. Respect your mother and father.

6. Do not murder.

7. Do not commit adultery.

8. Do not steal.

9. Do not lie.

10. Do not envy other persons, or anything they have.