THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (A.K.A. THE DECALOGUE)

Their current status

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Topics covered in this essay

Comparison of the Decalogue with modern social beliefs:

The Ten Commandments have widespread respect in North America, even among some Atheists, Agnostics, and other non-Christians. However, many of the individual  commandments are currently ignored. Some -- particularly those dealing with slavery, expecting non-Judeo-Christians to worship only of Jehovah, and treating women as property -- are considered quite immoral and intolerant by today's secular standards.

The following table compares the original commandments with today's practices:

Are the Ten Commandments being followed?

In modern-day society, we appear to have rejected many of the Ten Commandments. Even as we maintain a high level of respect for the Decalog, few people can fully recite them. Even fewer know their true meaning, and very few actually follow them as originally intended:

Of the above, there are three commandments whose current meanings are very different from the original. They have essentially been re-written:

Does the Decalog need to be changed?

Seventh Day Adventists and other Sabbatarian denominations (churches which worship on Saturday) believe that the original Ten Commandments, were intended as a universal set of rules for all people and eras. Thus they will never need to be revised; they will never go out of fashion. Other conservative Christian denominations generally agree, with the exception of #4 (worshiping on Saturday).

Religious liberals might point out that the sets of commandments were drafted some 3 millennia ago for a pre-scientific, religiously intolerant society in which women were considered property, slavery was widespread, numerous sins and crimes punished by the death penalty, religious freedom was restricted, and polygyny was common.  Since the Ten Commandments were written, western culture has changed in dozens of ways. We have, for example:

Elsewhere on this web site, we have outlined some of the negative effects that the Ten Commandments may have if posted in a government office or public school. Also listed are two attempts to produce revised sets of Ten Commandments that are compatible with modern society. 

Public knowledge of the Ten Commandments:

A large percentage of people regard the Decalogue as being of prime importance. They are regarded by many as the fundamental moral commands of the Judeo-Christian faith. But not that many adults are aware of what the Ten commandments actually say:

Surveys:

Dr. William Snell, Jr. of the Department of Psychology at Southeast Missouri State University is conducting a series of "Psychology Investigations" via the Internet. One survey called "Religion and the Ten Commandments"  It studies "people's views about religion and religiosity. Volunteers taking the survey are "asked to respond to a series of questions about the Ten Commandments, several other aspects of religion/religiosity, and parenting behaviors." A report on this study is not yet available. ₁

The First Amendment Center and the American Journalism Review released the results of a poll on 2003-AUG-1. They found that:

N = 1,000. margin of error is 3.1 percentage points. ₂

Related essays on this website:

Reference:

1. "...Psychology Investigations conduced by Dr. William E. Snell...," at: http://www4.semo.edu/
2. "Survey: Majority of Americans OK With Ten Commandments, Pledge in Public," Religion News Service, 2003-AUG-5, at: http://www.beliefnet.com/

Copyright © 1999 to 2007 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2007-SEP-26
Author: B.A. Robinson