An Atheist's Commandments

Most of us who consider ourselves nontheists, consider the Ten Commandments of Judeo-Christian faith to be mostly useless when it comes to providing a framework for law and/or morality. It is for this reason that I am offering my own set of 'commandments', borrowing heavily from Richard Dawkins and others, for the verbage, if not the actual ideas.

An Atheist's Commandments

1. Treat others (fellow human beings, living things, and the world in general) with the respect, honesty, faithfulness and love you would want to receive in return.

2. Question/test all things; always check your ideas against the facts, and be ready to discard even a cherished belief if it does not conform to them.

3. Always strive to learn something new; and live life with a sense of joy and wonder at what you discover.

4. Never seek to censor or cut yourself off from dissent; always respect the right of others to disagree with you.

5. Form independent opinions on the basis of your own reason and experience; do not allow yourself to be led blindly by others.

6. Do not indoctrinate your children. Teach them how to think for themselves, how to evaluate evidence, and how to disagree with you.

7. Do not discriminate or oppress on the basis of sex, race, or (as far as possible), species, and in all things, strive to cause no harm.

8. Enjoy your own sex life (so long as it damages nobody else) and leave others to enjoy theirs in private whatever their inclinations, which are none of your business.

9. Strive to leave the world a better place than you found it.

10. Value the future on a timescale longer than your own. (Some Native American tribes go by the rule of thumb of the 7th generation. Find one that suits you.)