Commandment #1

Before getting into how our overall US beliefs coincide with the Commandments, I’d like to say that no decision to take action should be considered solely because it upsets an Atheist. The steel beams in the shape of a cross that survived the 9/11/01 attack at ground zero I hope were left alone. Yes, it appears as a religious symbol and all that died have a right to representation. No religious leader was objecting to the beams and other religious symbols may or may not be placed on the site. If you feel your Atheism is not represented just consider the part of the grounds with nothing on it to be yours.

I believe that religions without the Commandments are not good but evil as they give refuge to hatred or control over people without real faith in Good (God) or the American belief that all people are created equal. Even with the Commandments we humans find ways to dislike each other. I guess this is why that in a world where the majority of the people say they have religion we have wars and nuclear bombs. The US seems to have bombs to defend our country from others who do not think as we do, as a means of protection. As these other countries have bombs I assume that it is either for power/control or they too are protecting themselves from us and others. I just don’t understand so I’ll get on with my analysis of the Commandments.   

Commandment #1 - Thou shall have no other gods before me.

If we as a people believe in a higher power then we must assume that the over 1,000 names for God, Allah, Jehovah, Krishna, Nirankar, Baha, Yahweh, Shangdi, Shen, Zhu, Zoroaster, and others are all one and the same. If we do not believe in such, then the alternative would be that there is nothing more than ourselves to believe in. I choose to believe in something bigger and better because I do not think that we are the best the universe has to offer. There’s always the alien beings theory that could be considered but I’m not going there because it would beg the same question as to where they came from.

The biggest argument my mother and I got into was when the school taught Darwin’s Theory. I now realize that even if we believe in Darwin’s theory, it doesn’t mean that God didn’t start us out as amoebas and then when we were sufficiently developed lead us out of Egypt or any other place. We know that there are 17 penguin species and the differences in the 5 Flamingo species are partly due to what they eat. This information in conjunction with Darwin’s theory, lends support to what is now being said - that we all come from 7 mothers. This implies that like all other creatures, our differences are due mainly to our environment. Since Darwin’s theory doesn’t give way to the unexplained abilities of people like Brazil’s John of God, psychics, mediums, and near death experiences my thought is that our amoebas wouldn’t have spirits or souls without some intervention. After my argument with my mother, I didn’t believe in a higher ‘good’ power until I saw the Exorcist movie.  My logic was - if there is such evil then the opposite must also exist.

I believe this commandment suggests that we are not to put ourselves above God or his/her creations. I also think that we have totally lost sight of this commandment. We over populate, over use earth’s resources, over look the beauty of our surroundings and use religion as a means for detesting one another. 

We treat the President (Black or White) with as much disrespect as we do others so it appears we’re in compliance with this Commandment. I do think we should reconsider our celebrity envy (singers, actors, sports people, etc.) as this may be a violation. It’s okay to like, respect and follow celebrities but when the paparazzi is out of hand because you want the gossip and the purchasing of movie or concert tickets and memorabilia are more important than making ends meet and paying your bills, you are treating these people better than God and I believe that your behavior violates the Commandments.