Shaila Kibria

Taken from: http://www.debate.org/debates/The-New-Ten-Commandments/1/

I am not claiming that my list of moral edicts is necessarily more ethical than those found in the Hebrew Bible, although I think that they clearly are. I am claiming that in an idealized world where people always followed my list we would live in a much safer, more compassionate, and generally happier world than one in which the original ten were followed with equal assiduousness.

1.) Do not believe anything without good reason or evidence. Indeed, allow reason and the scientific method to guide your beliefs about the world.

2.) Do not pretend to know things you don’t really know and always allow yourself to be open to evidence and reason.

3.) Do not hoard your money or be absorbed by greed. Let generosity to the Earth’s less fortunate be at the forefront of your daily life.

4.) Do not do unto others what you would find repulsive if it were done to you.

5.) Do not deprive others of their life, liberty, property or their pursuit of happiness and don’t treat them purely as a means to some selfish end unless by doing this you would cause greater suffering.

6.) Do not discriminate against anyone on the basis of gender, nationality, species, ethnicity, or sexual orientation and don’t violate the preferences that people may hold, insofar as those preferences aren’t reprehensible.

7.) Make a general practice of reducing suffering in the world and increasing overall levels of happiness among living creatures.

8.) In all things try to refrain from harming conscious creatures and let compassion be a pivotal factor in the decisions that you make.

9.) Try to be motivated by love and a general concern for the well being of others.

10.) Encourage your children to study math, science, philosophy and literature to the best of their abilities.

I have some suspicions that the ending part of my 5th commandment will raise grief with certain people so allow me to unpack it. Murderers, rapists, and arsonists can be jailed or justifiably be killed in acts of self-defense etc. That’s really all that I mean by it. On a side note the list isn’t necessarily arranged from most to least important.

Taken from: http://www.debate.org/debates/The-New-Ten-Commandments/1/