{"id":41625,"date":"2015-01-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/contest-rewrites-ten-commandments\/"},"modified":"2015-01-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-01-26T00:00:00","slug":"contest-rewrites-ten-commandments","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/contest-rewrites-ten-commandments\/","title":{"rendered":"Contest Rewrites the Ten Commandments"},"content":{"rendered":"

An article on CNN reported on two atheists who wanted to rewrite the Ten Commandments. The article begins with this question: "What if, instead of climbing Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from God, Moses had turned to the Israelites and asked: Hey, what do you guys think we should do?" That was the idea behind the "10 'Non-Commandments' Contest," in which atheists were asked to offer modern alternatives to the famous Decalogue. The contest even offered $10,000 for the best ideas.<\/p>\n\n

The contest drew more than 2,800 submissions from 18 countries and 27 U.S. states. The proposed "non-commandments" ranged from the quizzical ("Don't follow your nature") to the quixotic ("Thriving in space is the ultimate goal"). A team of 13 judges selected 10 of the more sober and serious submissions, and announced the winners.<\/p>\n\n

The article summarized the list this way:<\/p>\n\n

\n

There's nary a "thou shalt" among them—nothing specifically about murder, stealing, or adultery, although there is a version of the Golden Rule, which presumably would cover those crimes. If they lack faith in the divine, the atheist "non-commandments" display a robust faith in humankind, as if Silicon Valley had replaced Sinai.<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Here are the winning "Ten Non-Commandments":<\/p>\n\n

    \n\t
  1. Be open-minded and be willing to alter your beliefs with new evidence.<\/li>\n\n\t
  2. Strive to understand what is most likely to be true, not to believe what you wish to be true.<\/li>\n\n\t
  3. The scientific method is the most reliable way of understanding the natural world.<\/li>\n\n\t
  4. Every person has the right to control of their body.<\/li>\n\n\t
  5. God is not necessary to be a good person or to live a full and meaningful life.<\/li>\n\n\t
  6. Be mindful of the consequences of all your actions and recognize that you must take responsibility for them.<\/li>\n\n\t
  7. Treat others as you would want them to treat you, and can reasonably expect them to want to be treated. Think about their perspective.<\/li>\n\n\t
  8. We have the responsibility to consider others, including future generations.<\/li>\n\n\t
  9. There is no one right way to live.<\/li>\n\n\t
  10. Leave the world a better place than you found it.<\/li>\n\n<\/ol>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3363,3450,3459,3485,3825,3889,4491,4893,4900,5135,5277,5291],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-41625","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-absolutes","tax_ctp_tags-atheism","tax_ctp_tags-authority","tax_ctp_tags-bible","tax_ctp_tags-doctrine","tax_ctp_tags-ethics","tax_ctp_tags-morality","tax_ctp_tags-scripture","tax_ctp_tags-secularism","tax_ctp_tags-ten-commandments","tax_ctp_tags-will-of-god","tax_ctp_tags-word-of-god"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\nContest Rewrites the Ten Commandments - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/contest-rewrites-ten-commandments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Contest Rewrites the Ten Commandments - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An article on CNN reported on two atheists who wanted to rewrite the Ten Commandments. 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