The Ten Commandments

Explanations > Values > The Ten Commandments

One of the oldest and most commonly adopted set of values that have held together communities for thousands of years are the ten commandments. They are not even Christian, going back to Moses, who went up Mount Sinai and came down with these basic rules for peaceful living.

I am the Lord your God Who has taken you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.
You shall have no other gods but me.
You shall not take the name of your Lord in vain.
You shall remember and keep the Sabbath day holy.
Honor your father and mother.
You shall not kill.
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 goods. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his bull, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.

Very few people brought up around the Christian/Old Testament tradition will disagree with these values even if they are not God-fearing church-goers. The whole of the Western society is permeated with these rules.

Note also that these values are elsewhere than just Christian Bible: they are found in the Jewish Torah the Moslem Koran.

So what?

Beware of transgressing these rules. In fact in most cases you are unlikely to come anywhere near any of them except the last two or three. If you live by the rules, then

You can also use them as levers, for example pointing out that it is not a good idea to tell tales about you.

If the other person is a professed Christian, then you can be more direct, perhaps even bringing them up. You might impress them with your knowledge of biblical matter (few but the most devout can recite all ten commandments).

USA:

UK:

Canada:

The Ten Commandments

So what?

See also