TEN COMMANDMENTS & HUMAN RIGHTS

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The fact that the commandments are put negatively is immensely important, for it means that the community that claims these commandments and builds on them has to work out for itself the positive import of not having other gods, not worshipping idols, not profaning the sabbath, not killing and stealing, and committing adultery. Put negatively, these commitments become the groundwork for a humanly free and responsible search for the will of God for individual, family, and corporate life today and in any day.

It is true that the commandments originate in ancient Israel, are central to the faith of prophets, priests, and sages, and are claimed and made foundational by Jesus for the Christian community. But these commandments also share much with, for example, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which has been presented by the United Nations for adoption by all the nations of earth.

The Ten Commandments and Human Rights seeks to show how to avoid moralistic use of the Ten Commandments in religious life today while still affirming that there are absolutely foundational prohibitions that can and must guide the moral life of all peoples. The Ten Commandments need very little revision in order to become such a foundation for a free and responsible life today.

What I object to is Harrelson's setting up of Moses as a sort of Thomas Jefferson figure. He bucks mainline scholarship by attributing much of the decalogue to Moses, but he does not go so far as to say the God of the Hebrews told him to say these things. The result is that Moses emerges as a sort of religio-political genius who set about to establish a new civilization. While this in itself is not objectionable as a story, it does lead to some misguided conclusions.

First of all, Harrelson "translates" the first commandment for the pluralistic masses, saying that for it to do work in our world it ought to read something like "You shall have only one ultimate master." This seems utterly misguided. The commandment comes in the context of a God rescuing a people from an oppressor. That God is not talking to the folks back in Egypt. I'm sure that there were plenty of single-minded folks back in Egypt. That's not the point of the commandment. By abstracting "principles" from the commandments, Harrelson strips them of their ability to speak to concrete historical situations. What we need is an act of imagination, not a disposal of history.

On the exegetical end I give Harrelson thumbs up. When he tries to make Moses head of the UN I have to object.