# A list of things you can do without breaking any of the 10 commandments **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 19, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566 "2009-02-19T17:08:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/1 "2009-02-19T17:08:47Z")
First, the list of the 10 commandments: > [@god](#): > > You shall have no other gods before me. > > You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. > > You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. > > Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. > > Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. > > You shall not murder. > > You shall not commit adultery. > > You shall not steal. > > You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. > > You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s. So, you can do the follwing things (though not on the Sabbath) and still keep the commandments: Ban books. Burn books. Run a sweatshop. Kick people. Work your child in the mines from dusk to dawn. Torture animals and people, as long as they are not your parents and do not die. What else? ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/2 "2009-02-19T17:12:40Z")
I notice that fornication and masturbation aren’t specifically forbidden… Nor homosexuality. Just don’t be thinking of thy neighbor’s ox while doing any of the above. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/3 "2009-02-19T17:13:55Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > So, you can do the follwing things (though not on the Sabbath) and still keep the commandments: > > Ban books. > Burn books. > Run a sweatshop. > Kick people. > Work your child in the mines from dusk to dawn. > Torture animals and people, as long as they are not your parents and do not die. > > What else? I could make an argument that all of the above are stealing in some form or fashion. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/4 "2009-02-19T17:22:48Z")
I guess you missed Mel Brooks’s “History of the World (Part I?)”. There were fifteen originally. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/5 "2009-02-19T17:27:39Z")
> [@AppallingGael](#): > > I guess you missed Mel Brooks’s “History of the World (Part I?)”. There were fifteen originally. The third tablet falling and breaking was just movie BS, **AG**. The real story has Moses coming back after several trips up and down the mountain. “OK, there’s good and bad news. I’ve got him down to ten, but adultery’s still in.” ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/6 "2009-02-19T17:31:01Z")
I remember that scene, “I bring you God’s 15, crash/smash…10, 10 commandments.” ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/7 "2009-02-19T17:37:18Z")
There are really 613, but most of you should only worry about the seven given to Noah. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/8 "2009-02-19T17:39:55Z")
> [@AppallingGael](#): > > I guess you missed Mel Brooks’s “History of the World (Part I?)”. There were fifteen originally. And yet in another movie, he came down from the mountain with 10 commandments, and a six pack of a miraculous elixer. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/9 "2009-02-19T17:41:53Z")
> [@brownie55](#): > > There are really 613, but most of you should only worry about the seven given to Noah. Yeah, I was going to say this. In case you’re thinking “Wow, god sure left a lot of leeway with only ten commandments,” the rabbis have gone through the Torah and decided that there are actually 613 commandments. I’m pretty sure none of the things listed by the OP would be okay (according to Judaism, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/10 "2009-02-19T17:48:28Z")
“You shall have no other gods before me.” I’ve always wondered about this one. Does it mean I’m OK with making small offerings to the small, leather-winged mini-demon that lives in my sock drawer in order to maintain my current level of foot apparel as long as I keep Yahweh #1? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/11 "2009-02-19T17:53:31Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > First, the list of the 10 commandments: > > So, you can do the follwing things (though not on the Sabbath) and still keep the commandments: > > Ban books. > Burn books. > Run a sweatshop. > Kick people. > Work your child in the mines from dusk to dawn. > Torture animals and people, as long as they are not your parents and do not die. > > What else? You can rape all you want, apparently. And you can sexually molest your underage children. Interestingly, the extraordinarily detailed list of sexual prohibitions later in the Torah does not, among its many prohbitions of incest, include a father sleeping with his daughter (though the Talmud says that this prohibition is implied by all the others) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/12 "2009-02-19T17:54:33Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I could make an argument that all of the above are stealing in some form or fashion. How is banning books theft? ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/13 "2009-02-19T17:55:49Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > How is banning books theft? Theft of knowledge from the world. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/14 "2009-02-19T17:58:25Z")
> [@brownie55](#): > > Theft of knowledge from the world. By that logic I’m guilty of theft of oxygen by breathing, as my doing it reduces the amount of oxygen in the world. Theft implies personal ownership of property. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/15 "2009-02-19T18:16:47Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > What else? Feed the poor. Give water to the thirsty. Building housing for the homeless. Give clothing to the naked. Provide free medical care. Protect the environment. Post underhanded insults on message boards. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/16 "2009-02-19T18:24:10Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > Give clothing to the naked. Or backrubs. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/17 "2009-02-19T19:18:55Z")
You can keep and sell slaves. **brownie55** , what are the 7 given to Noah? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/18 "2009-02-19T19:27:22Z")
> [@Khampelf](#): > > Nor homosexuality. Well, instead of donkey, some might translate the tenth as “… thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s ass…” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/19 "2009-02-19T19:31:40Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > You can keep and sell slaves. > > **brownie55** , what are the 7 given to Noah? [The Seven Noahide Commandments.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Laws_of_Noah) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566/20 "2009-02-19T19:32:28Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > Feed the poor. > Give water to the thirsty. > Building housing for the homeless. > Give clothing to the naked. > Provide free medical care. > Protect the environment. > Post underhanded insults on message boards. Not if you do it on the Sabbath. Or if you steal from someone else to do so. Or if you’re doing it because you covet your neighbor’s wife\* and you’re trying to score points with her. \*apparently coveting your neighbor’s husband is fine-and-dandy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-list-of-things-you-can-do-without-breaking-any-of-the-10-commandments/486566.md?page=2)