The Ten Commitments

[Clizby WampusCat]

The Ten Commitments:

1. Critical Thinking
2. Ethical Development
3. Peace and Social Justice
4. Service and Participation
5. Empathy
6. Humility
7. Environmentalism
8. Global Awareness
9. Responsibility
10. Altruism

They are explained here: Living Humanist Values: The Ten Commitments - TheHumanist.com

Seems to me that anyone, no matter what their beliefs, can get behind these ideas.

What do you object to here or what do you think should be changed or added?

 

[Halbhh]

The Ten Commitments:

1. Critical Thinking
2. Ethical Development
3. Peace and Social Justice
4. Service and Participation
5. Empathy
6. Humility
7. Environmentalism
8. Global Awareness
9. Responsibility
10. Altruism

They are explained here: Living Humanist Values: The Ten Commitments - TheHumanist.com

Seems to me that anyone, no matter what their beliefs, can get behind these ideas.

What do you object to here or what do you think should be changed or added?

Those are good.

They are perfectly lined up with (so well they could have been written as a brief reminder list of) instructions to us in the New Testament.

 

[Clizby WampusCat]

Those are good.

They are perfectly lined up with (so well they could have been written as a brief reminder list of) instructions to us in the New Testament.

I am glad you agree they are good. Can you put bible verses next to the commitments?

 

[After God's Heart]

The pleasant, positive verbiage sounds good in theory but it does not point to God.

 

[Halbhh]

I am glad you agree they are good. Can you put bible verses next to the commitments?

Ok, some have many choices, but I'll just use the first 1 or 2 that pop to mind.

1. Critical Thinking -- 2 parts. 1rst, over and over Christ challenged the thinking processes of his followers, provoking them to begin thinking more logically. e.g. Mark 8:21 Then He asked them, "Do you still not understand?" (and many other similar instances where He show them they need to think more fully/completely/logically)
2nd, the chapter of Matthew 23 as very strongly critical thinking. Also, as a proverb says: "Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? [speaks without much careful thought] There is more hope for a fool than for him."

2. Ethical Development -- "But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former." Mt 23:23

3. Peace and Social Justice --
"Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
17Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow."
Isaiah 1:16-17, James 1:27

4. Service and Participation -- Jesus...got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. -- John 13:3-5, also:
"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love." Gal 5:13

5. Empathy -- Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. -- Rom 12:15

6. Humility -- "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (throughout the bible), and "Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." -- Mt 18:4

7. Environmentalism -- "For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land" -- Lev 25

8. Global Awareness -- "The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself..." (Lev 19:34, Mt 25:25
9. Responsibility, and 10. Altruism -- "So in everything, do for others as you would have them do for you" -- Mt 7:12
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’"
Mt 25

 

[Clizby WampusCat]

The pleasant, positive verbiage sounds good in theory but it does not point to God.

Do you agree with the ideas but just object to God being left out of it?

 

[Soyeong]

The Ten Commitments:

1. Critical Thinking
2. Ethical Development
3. Peace and Social Justice
4. Service and Participation
5. Empathy
6. Humility
7. Environmentalism
8. Global Awareness
9. Responsibility
10. Altruism

They are explained here: Living Humanist Values: The Ten Commitments - TheHumanist.com

Seems to me that anyone, no matter what their beliefs, can get behind these ideas.

What do you object to here or what do you think should be changed or added?

In regard to #3, "justice" does not need the modifier "social", which only perverts it.

 

[Tinker Grey]

In regard to #3, "justice" does not need the modifier "social", which only perverts it.

There is nothing perverted about social justice.

 

[Gene Parmesan]

The pleasant, positive verbiage sounds good in theory but it does not point to God.

If those things don't point to God, I'm not interested in that god.

 

[Soyeong]

There is nothing perverted about social justice.

Then why not just call it justice?

 

[Tinker Grey]

Then why not just call it justice?

Why call it perverted just because someone called it social justice?

From Social justice - Wikipedia

Social justice is the relation of balance between individuals and society measured by comparing distribution of wealth differences, from personal liberties to fair privilege opportunities. In Western as well as in older Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fulfill their societal roles and receive what was their due from society.[1][2][3] In the current global grassroots movements for social justice, the emphasis has been on the breaking of barriers for social mobility, the creation of safety nets and economic justice.[4][5][6][7][8] Social justice assigns rights and duties in the institutions of society, which enables people to receive the basic benefits and burdens of cooperation. The relevant institutions often include taxation, social insurance, public health, public school, public services, labor law and regulation of markets, to ensure fair distribution of wealth, and equal opportunity.[9]
​

{There's more}

The rough idea is that people should not be exploited just because other people can pull it off. Should Jeff Bezos get billions while his lowest wage earners get $7.50 an hour (n.b., I don't know what Amazon's lowest wage is). His company could afford to pay everyone from a picker to janitor at $20 without affecting the Board of Directors income in any noticeable way.

 

[Soyeong]

Why call it perverted just because someone called it social justice?

Because social justice is about political ideology rather than about justice.

 

[Tinker Grey]

Because social justice is about political ideology rather than about justice.

No it's not. (BTW, I edited my post.)

 

[Soyeong]

No it's not. (BTW, I edited my post.)

If you can guess my political affiliation based on my comments in the thread so far, then that proves my point. Distribution of wealth is a political ideology. Taking money away from people who earned it and giving it to people who have not is a perversion of justice.

 

[Tinker Grey]

If you can guess my political affiliation based on my comments in the thread so far, then that proves my point. Distribution of wealth is a political ideology. Taking money away from people who earned it and giving it to people who have not is a perversion of justice.

It's not about taking money away from people who earned it; it's about paying people who earned it.

 

[Soyeong]

It's not about taking money away from people who earned it; it's about paying people who earned it.

Which is again about your political ideology. There is nothing unjust about an employer offering a job at a certain wage or about someone voluntarily agreeing to do that job at that wage, but then you've come along and arbitrarily decided that it is unjust. So please give a specific number for what you think is the line between a just and an unjust wage for a janitor and explain how you arrived at that conclusion. Also please explain why someone would be wrong for thinking that paying a janitor $20/hour is unjust when it janitors should be paid at least $21/hour in order to be just.

EDIT:
To avoid deviating from the point of this thread too much, the things listed should be things that everyone can commit to. People are going to disagree about whether or not it is just to forcibly redistribute wealth or disagree about the degree to how much distribution is just, but justice by itself should be something that we can all commit to.

 

[Tinker Grey]

Which is again about your political ideology. There is nothing unjust about an employer offering a job at a certain wage or about someone voluntarily agreeing to do that job at that wage, but then you've come along and arbitrarily decided that it is unjust. So please give a specific number for what you think is the line between a just and an unjust wage for a janitor and explain how you arrived at that conclusion. Also please explain why someone would be wrong for thinking that paying a janitor $20/hour is unjust when it janitors should be paid at least $21/hour in order to be just.

EDIT:
To avoid deviating from the point of this thread too much, the things listed should be things that everyone can commit to. People are going to disagree about whether or not it is just to forcibly redistribute wealth or disagree about the degree to how much distribution is just, but justice by itself should be something that we can all commit to.

Any worker anywhere needs enough money to put a roof over their head, to buy food, and perhaps even start a family. Putting a specific dollar on it is a red-herring.

AND, it's not perverted to think people ought to be paid enough to live.

 

[After God's Heart]

Do you agree with the ideas but just object to God being left out of it?

I wouldn't agree. Humanism is fundamentally and inherently opposed to the Christian faith - the focus on the self, the moral relativism, the denial of our need for salvation that can only be attained through Jesus Christ. So on the surface level, empathy and humility and such sound nice (why not also throw in health, success, positivity, education, beauty, etc) but since they are not grounded in God, not rooted in Truth, then the commitments aren't ideas that 'anyone, no matter their beliefs' can support - on the contrary, there are a million different directions each item on the list can be taken when you dig into them, even picking different verses than the ones posted previously, BECAUSE the commitments themselves aren't rooted in anything absolute and we are fallible. Interesting question!

 

[Strathos]

Those are way too vague and could be interpreted as meaning quite different things to different people.

 

[d taylor]

The Ten Commitments:

1. Critical Thinking
2. Ethical Development
3. Peace and Social Justice
4. Service and Participation
5. Empathy
6. Humility
7. Environmentalism
8. Global Awareness
9. Responsibility
10. Altruism

They are explained here: Living Humanist Values: The Ten Commitments - TheHumanist.com

Seems to me that anyone, no matter what their beliefs, can get behind these ideas.

What do you object to here or what do you think should be changed or added?

Is this based off of the Georgia guidestones