Religion & Ethics: Content from Across the ABC




Date/Time 31 Jul 2015 2:42:16am
When I was a small child of about 11 or 12, I asked myself if the Ten Commandments were just some arbitrary imposition imposed on humanity from On High, or whether there was some rationale by which the Commandments could be derived just by reference to this world ad the people in it.

After some thought, I decided that the Ten Commandments aren't too bad a set of guiding principles, whether there is a God or not.

Much later, I read of the Five Precepts of Buddhism.

I undertake to not kill.
I undertake to not steal.
I undertake to not lie.
I undertake to not engage in sexual misconduct.
I undertake to not overindulge in intoxicating substances.

These cover the secular components of the Ten Commandments, without bowing or scraping toward any god, real or imagined, without needing the mediation of a class of priests or a king.

Best of all, they aren't cast as a set of "Thou Shalt Nots" based on fear of retribution, but as a set of chosen actions based on wisdom and understanding of how humans can get by with each other.

Whether the secular state has a moral mandate or not, to the extent that the secular state is composed of people who create and support the state so that a civil society may exist, the secular state has a role in facilitating the undertakings of its citizens to treat each other so that we may all get along together.