Folks,

Most of us, as normal people would have been told time and again, that God is a Good God. We might, at some point in our lives, have sung praises and songs in praise of this good god. But how good is he?

While I would definitely want to point to Deuteronomy and Leviticus to show that the god of the Bible is far from being called good, I would choose to take a different approach, because this has been mentioned many times by many people before me and the last thing I want to do is reinvent wheels.

I would like to look at some of the lesser known characteristics of the god of the Bible, to show that even IF we could somehow rationalize those troublesome chapters which has god demanding brutal slaughters of innocents (the book of Joshua), blood sacrifices of animals (Leviticus), sex with relatives (Genesis) etc., the god is still not a good god, at least in my view.

For this I choose the Ten Commandments.

Most people think the Ten Commandments are pretty good moral standards. It seems like telling a person not to kill, not to steal, not to covet are good things to say. But there is one big problem with the Ten Commandments.

They are COMMANDMENTS.

They are not based on love for one another, love even for god. They do not show god as a loving one, but as a petty and brutal tyrant. They are crude, imperious orders made by a deity who seems to be a petty, insecure little teen rather than an omnipresent, omniscient deity. Let’s analyse them one by one, shall we?

Commandment 1:

Thou shalt have no other gods before me

This one is self evident. No other god but biblegod. But there is a slight flaw here. If biblegod is the only god, how can there be other gods which we might think of having “before him”?

Also, why should this be an order? If biblegod were to show he is the only god in the universe, why would we even think of having any other “god before him”?

Commandment 2:

Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image

Well basically this means you shall not put god in an image. This seems again kind of strange, considering biblegod in Deuteronomy has always made a big deal about what his temple should look like, what rituals must be practiced to please him etc. An image is not always a clay or stone figurine. Any representation of X is an image of X. Does that mean that the bible should be burnt? The bible tries to show god in certain forms, it undeniably gives us a picture of what he is like (good, benevolent, with arms, legs, even bowels and whathaveyou).

What’s wrong with graven images anyway? Don’t we have sculptures and portraits of great leaders? I have a Jimi Hendrix poster in my room. Does that mean I worship Hendrix? Why make such a minor issue a “Commandment”? It has a big threat associated with it. God apparently is a “jealous god”, who will come after not only you, but your children and grandchildren as well. But of course, if you kiss his butt thousand generations will be basking in his “love”. Jesus, what a swell guy. Note however, he says a “THOUSAND generations”. That is a heck of a long time. Has he kept his promise? Besides, note that god apparently devotes line after line explaining these two commandments, but later just mentions the rest “in passing”. Why make such minor commandments a big issue if it wasn't insecurity and fear? Seems like God is afraid of his own flock and of other Gods cutting in on his action.

What about all those images of Jesus in churches and websites?

Commandment 3:

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD your god in vain

Basically, you should not misuse his name. I suppose saying, “In the name of Jesus may you be healed” is a misuse as well. What about words like "Oh my God!" or "you godawful piece of shit!"? Certainly, anyone who has used them is destined for the fires of hell, isn't he not?

Commandment 4:

Remember the Sabbath day. Keep it holy

This is plain bull. Just because god claims he was tired so he rested on Saturday doesn’t mean I ought to. Imagine if all the emergency staff of hospitals and police took Saturday as off. What’s the rationale behind this commandment? Heck why even make this a “Commandment”?

The first four commandments are therefore nonsensical.

Commandment 5:

Honour thy father and mother

Well this seems pretty okay. I mean, who would ever think this is wrong? But there is again a slight problem. It has no qualifiers. If X was born to a father who abuses drugs, gets drunk, beats X every day, and finally runs away leaving X on the street, why the hell should X honour him? If Y's mother is a prostitute and she has no idea who her father is, Y lives the life of a social reject, why should Y still honour her mother? What about fathers who sexually abuse their offspring? Should they be honoured as well?

Commandment 6:

Thou shalt not kill

This one again is one of those feel good commandments. But wouldn’t that mean god breaks his own commandments? Well okay so he is above the law and can do what he likes, fine. Does that mean if someone was out to kill me, I cannot kill the guy before he kills me? OR let’s take a better example.

I have a gun. This guy comes up to this bus full of innocent kids and pulls out a gun. If I kill this guy, I would be considered by most people a good guy. But according to biblegod, I killed.. Makes sense?

Doesn’t that mean, when the Israelites went out on a butchery spree under Joshua, they were violating god’s commandments, under his own order? God never said, Thou shalt not kill except when directed by me (thank goodness or we would be facing a never ending stream of self proclaimed martyrs carrying out god’s will). All he said is thou shalt not kill Fullstop. No ifs, no buts, no exceptions. It all seems very inconsistent.

Commandment 7:

Thou shalt not commit adultery

Well fair enough. But of course this depends on what adultery means. J.C. in the new testament said anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery. What the fuck! Total, pure, grade A bullshit. Who does it hurt that I look at a woman lustfully? I feel good, the woman doesn’t even know.. No one in the street cares, (as long as I don’t gawk) so what’s the big deal? Why is there such a taboo on sex?

Commandment 8:

Thou shalt not steal

No qualifiers again. Gosh biblegod loves making sweeping statements doesn’t he? Suppose a hungry urchin stole a packet of food from a supermarket, would you feel sorry for the kid or would you kick him? If someone kicks him, wouldn’t you think that guy is an asshole?

Commandment 9:

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour

This one makes some sense, but what does it refer to? Lying? Giving false testimony in court? Betrayal? The one commandment that made some sense ends up being so vague as to lose any meaning it could have had.

Commandment 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.

DAMN! A neighbour’s wife is his property? It’s his THING? Somemore she is compared to his ass, ox and put on the same standing. Ditto for his servants! Gosh, fuck equal rights, let’s enforce slavery all over again!

This one is the worst of them all. Abhorrent in its blatant sexism and racism. Apart from that, what’s wrong with coveting it? Doesn’t a small amount of envy spur us to greater achievements?

How come there is no hint of that ever lasting love of god in these commandments? Why isn't there an advice to do good to the world? Why isn't there anything on abolishing slavery? There is always a hint of suppression, of anger, hatred and egomania. Whatever happened to the loving god that fundies love to tout?

Besides, real issues are not even dealt with here. How about a commandment that tells us to respect other people (Love thy neighbour..). How come this doesn’t figure in the 10? How about a commandment that tells us not to treat nature as an abuseable slave?

Here are my 10 Commandments:
Commandment 1: Do anything you like as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else.
Commandment 2: Anything you like you may do, as long as no one else is affected adversely.
Commandment 3: As long as no one else is affected adversely, you may do as you please.
Commandment 4: When you do anything, make sure no one is affected badly by it.
Commandment 5: As long as it doesn't hurt anyone else, anything you do is fine.
Commandment 6: Whatever you do, make sure it doesn't affect anyone in a negative way.
Commandment 7: You are free to do what you want, as long as it doesn't affect anyone else.
Commandment 8: Do what you want, anything as long as no one else has cause for complaint because of what you do or did.
Commandment 9: Anything you think you should do, think of this first. Does it affect someone else adversely? If it does, try not to do it.
Commandment 10: Refer to the first 9.

There you go folks. Risking belabouring the point eleven bloody times, do what you want as long as you don't affect anyone else badly. There ya go. One commandment.