From The Pen Of Penn

Penn (of Penn and Teller) recently released his new book, God, No. I've said before on the blog that I'd steer clear of religion in general but I think most will agree that this isn't exactly a religious post, nor is it really about atheism. Penn's book is about his own atheism and I haven't read it so I can't comment on it, nor would I do so here.

What this post is about is living. More specifically, it addresses the idea of "rules to live by" for those who don't follow one holy book or another. I've been asked the question "well, if you don't believe in (insert appropriate deity/prophet/messiah here) then where do you get your morality" and my response has always been something like "from my logic, my humanity and our common laws". We could (and I have) argue religious influence on law and such for hours, but I promised that this wouldn't be a religion post.

What I'm going to show you here is Penn's own version of the Ten Commandments. In his case he calls it an Atheist Ten Commandments, but really once you read 'em I think you'll agree that it's really more of a Humanity's Ten Commandments.

1. The highest ideals are human intelligence, creativity and love. Respect these above all.

2. Do not put things or even ideas above other human beings. (Let's scream at each other about Kindle versus iPad, solar versus nuclear, Republican versus Libertarian, Garth Brooks versus Sun Ra— but when your house is on fire, I'll be there to help.)

3. Say what you mean, even when talking to yourself. (What used to be an oath to (G)od is now quite simply respecting yourself.)

4. Put aside some time to rest and think. (If you're religious, that might be the Sabbath; if you're a Vegas magician, that'll be the day with the lowest grosses.)

5. Be there for your family. Love your parents, your partner, and your children. (Love is deeper than honor, and parents matter, but so do spouse and children.)

6. Respect and protect all human life. (Many believe that "Thou shalt not kill" only refers to people in the same tribe. I say it's all human life.)

7. Keep your promises. (If you can't be sexually exclusive to your spouse, don't make that deal.)

8. Don't steal. (This includes magic tricks and jokes — you know who you are!)

9. Don't lie. (You know, unless you're doing magic tricks and it's part of your job. Does that make it OK for politicians, too?)

10. Don't waste too much time wishing, hoping, and being envious; it'll make you bugnutty.

I'm no theologian but these 10 make more sense to me than most of the religiously inspired "morality" I've seen and read about in my life. Don't get me wrong, I know full well that religion can and does inspire works of great compassion and charity, I just think that everyone, religious or not, would benefit from reading, thinking about and hopefully trying to live by Penn's more grounded version of those stone carved rules.

That's not to say that he has it perfectly correct, either. There's not really a provision to protect women and children from sexual abuse, not to friviolously litigate and on and on. He does make a good start though and it's worth taking a look at.