Walesa Wants New Secular ‘Ten Commandments’

AFP via Newsmax ^ | Monday, 21 Oct 2013 12:17 PM | (AFP)

[Olog-hai]

Polish Nobel peace laureate Lech Wałęsa on Monday called for a new “secular Ten Commandments” to underpin universal values, addressing a summit of Nobel Peace Prize winners in Warsaw.

“We need to agree on common values for all religions as soon as possible, a kind of secular Ten Commandments on which we will build the world of tomorrow,” he said in an opening speech kicking off the three-day summit. …

Besides universal values, the international community needs to focus on the economy of tomorrow, he said. …

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

The original 10 Commandments were all negative liberties, telling you what you can’t do but nothing about what you must do.

[dfwgator]

Didn’t they try that once and millions of Jews among others were killed? I say this is a very bad idea!~

That wasn't a merger, that was a hostile takeover.

[CodeToad]

Lech is a leech. He isn’t God.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

“Lech’s going Commie on us.”

Even if they didn’t like it, it’s all they really know.

And then he came over here and found that’s all most of us know too.

[Olog-hai]

Not all of them. “Honor thy father and thy mother etc.” and “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy etc.” are positive commands.

[Bigg Red]

I was planning to answer him, too, until I saw his screen name.

[Wicket]

Considering the power of the Catholic faith in Poland was a big reason why Solidarity worked and Walesa became famous, this seems a bit much. God will not be mocked.

[Wicket]

Considering the power of the Catholic faith in Poland was a big reason why Solidarity worked and Walesa became famous, this seems a bit much. God will not be mocked.

[Lazamataz]

Lech. I love ya man.

But take up your criticism of the 10 commandments with God, okay?

[MrB]

It’s fun to watch leftists/secularists stumble on the problem of the arbitrariness and baselessness of any “values” that they espouse,

especially when you point it out in person, one on one.

They usually point to some “consensus”, but the funny thing about that is, there were consensus in the past that would be abhorred today, and in the future, present day consensus will be considered evil.

So who’s right, hmmmm?

That’s when they name call.

[MrB]

Yep, the worldwide religion that the beast sets up...

[PATRIOT1876]

Mr. Wałęsa just destroyed his own legacy with blasphemous nonsense.

[Rebel_Ace]

Actually, 5 of the 10 Commandments can already be considered "secular", which is to say, not an instruction on worship, but of common, civilized behavior. Let's review, and "tweak" to avoid offending folks of various religious and/or non religious leanings:

1.Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

OK, this one is clearly religious, and even among believers in God there is much disagreement about what it means to be "God". If you want to "secularize" this, you are going to end up with something VERY CLOSE to the US Constitution 1st Amendment. Something like this:
Worship YOUR God in YOUR Way, but DO NOT INTERFERE with others as they Worship THEIR God in THEIR Way.

2.Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Alrighty, this one is also specifically religious. I think that it might be covered in the fairly broad suggestion offered for (1) above, so I will repeat it:
Worship YOUR God in YOUR Way, but DO NOT INTERFERE with others as they Worship THEIR God in THEIR Way.

3.Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Another clearly religious commandment, but one I think can be handled with an admonition to be "respectful" and "polite". Something like this:
Just as YOU would find it offensive to have your religion Mocked, refrain from speech and actions that mock and belittle the religions of others.

4.Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Already covered in the fairly broad suggestion offered for (1) above, so I will repeat it:
Worship YOUR God in YOUR Way, but DO NOT INTERFERE with others as they Worship THEIR God in THEIR Way.

5.Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

Common Decency codified:
Respect your elders, for they have lived and learned beyond your years, and in their declining years, will need your help and love.

6.Thou shalt not kill.

Already codified as law in virtually every civilized culture:
Don't Murder People, that's really bad.

7.Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Codified as law in many civilized cultures:
Don't Violate the Sanctity of Marriage, it leads to really bad outcomes.

8.Thou shalt not steal.

Already codified as law in virtually every civilized culture:
Don't Steal things from people, that's really bad.

9.Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Already codified as law in virtually every civilized culture with respect to trials:
Don't Lie To People, that's really bad.

10.Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Not a law, but thought of as basic common sense in virtually every civilized culture:
Don't be jealous of what other people have. Earn your own if you want what they have.

See? There is a calm, thought out response.

[Rebel_Ace]

BTW, can anyone name a religion that routinely violates any of the “suggestions” I offered? I can think of one off the top of my head...

[Olog-hai]

You sure you don’t have the source in reverse, assuming that people thought of these mores on their own? Take note of Romans 2:14.

I didn’t labor under the assumption that worrying about offending this or that person or group was something that FR burdened itself with, but rather upholding the principles of the US republic no matter who takes offense.

[Boogieman]

Yes, that is quite fun. I like to point out to atheists that, if they truly believed in atheism, they should be hedonists. After all, with no God to account to, why shouldn’t they only pursue their own self-interests above all else?

They don’t want to agree to that, because they want to maintain their illusion that atheism is something principled, but they can’t offer a logic reason not to agree, yet they also want to maintain that atheists are superior rationally. So they are really over the barrel on that one.

The best argument they can produce is that they should still do good for others, because having a civil society is important. Yet, when you deconstruct that argument, they are really only saying that they want the benefits of a civil society, so it is still a hedonistic argument of self-interest and can’t really help them :)

[GeronL]

As The Gates of Vienna remind us, the left already has a Secular Ten Commandments.

http://gatesofvienna.net/2013/11/the-left-the-right-and-the-march-of-death/

“Georgia Guidestones”

1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely — improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion — faith — tradition — and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth — beauty — love — seeking harmony with the infinite.
10. Be not a cancer on the earth — Leave room for nature — Leave room for nature.

[Olog-hai]

Now #3 goes completely against what happened at the Tower of Babel. The rest sounds like Gaia worship.

[ourworldawry]

“We need to agree on common values for all religions as soon as possible, a kind of secular Ten Commandments on which we will build the world of tomorrow,” he said in an opening speech kicking off the three-day summit.”

---

This is the work of the devil. Satan’s time is SHORT....which also means, so is the probation of man. Being so, this means that we must be prepared for the Great Coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

[Sherman Logan]

Interesting.

#1 requires killing all awful lot of people to get to the goal. Some entity would presumably have to implement the plan.

#2 presumably requires an authority to make these decisions. That’s called eugenics, and it doesn’t have a nice record.

#3 requires (in practice) an authority to force people into use of this language. If there’s one thing history shows, it’s that peoples don’t give up their native language without a fight.

#4 is just pablum. No real meaning.

#5 is also pablum. Nobody would disagree, except on the definitions of “fair” and “just,” on which they would disagree vehemently.

#6 does not address what happens when a nation violates any of these principles internally. If it can do so and get away with it, they they’re all meaningless.

#7 I can get behind, but it’s essentially meaningless without definitions of “petty” and “useless.”

#8 I can agree with, but as always it depends on the definitions.

#9 is more glittering generalities.

As is #10. Who decides at what point a person or nation has become a “cancer on the earth,” and what is done about it?