Some recent events have caused me to ponder how I interact with morality. I've been reading a lot about Jesus lately, and I even went to church recently to refresh my understanding. I've been to church probably 10 times in my life, and I've probably listened to twice as many sermons, so the rhetoric is not new. But I would say that for the first time I'm pondering Jesus' moral teachings and their implications on life - specifically how believers use his teachings. I'm also reading a book called Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius. The book was written by him a long time ago, for himself, to be used as a reminder of the person he strived to be. What both Marcus and the followers of Jesus have in common is a clear idea of virtue and a constant reminder of how to achieve it. This does not exist in my life, and I wish it did. I think it would make me a better person; help me get closer to the person I want to be.
I used to watch religious people repeat scripture over and over, and in my mind I would categorize it as weird and cultish, and part of the indoctrination process that enables a religion to survive. Regardless, if that's true, it also gives them exactly what I am looking for, because interwoven into those pious verses are reminders of how to be virtuous. The words are there on the page, in black and white, to guide and remind believers. Even though I disagree with a lot of the words, I'm envious of the fact that they have this practice in their life, and they take it so seriously.
If I'm going to incorporate this practice into my life, first I need a clear idea of what I think is virtuous. Religious people get it from their holy books; Marcus wrote his own book. Secularist seem to get it from a mixture of places: parents, society, teachers, their "gut", etc. Me, I probably got most of my morals from these places, but I mostly apply them only when a situation arises, or retroactively when I made a mistake and feel bad or am trying to make amends. I make time to establish clear career goals, and think often of my romantic goals, but not my "virtue goals", even though they are probably the most important of all - how ironic. In order to clarify my virtue goals, I figured I'd review the famous moral teachings in history: religions and philosophers. So I took a sample of what came to mind for religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism. Then I removed all the teachings that are purely pious and not applicable to a non-believer (e.g., Remember the sabbath day). Then I looked at a few non-religious writings: Marcus Aurelius, a few Greek philosophers, and the "Atheist Commandments" on a popular atheist site. Surprisingly, or perhaps not surprisingly, there is a lot of overlap. The religious morals tend to be more pithy, the philosophical more nuanced. To create my own list is an incredibly profound and important task that I feel like I'm not doing justice with this article. You would think they would have entire retreats for this, like they do for yoga, but I've never heard of one. Anyway, I guess I have to start somewhere, so here goes, my first crack, in no specific order:
- DO be compassionate
- DO be sympathetic
- DO be merciful
- DO be a peacemaker
- DO be charitable
- DO be humble
- DO be positive
- DO be grateful
- DO be generous
- DO be loyal to those you love
- DO be courageous in the pursuit of truth
- DO admit when you're wrong
- DO love everyone
- DO forgive all debtors
- DO focus on the now
- DO follow the golden rule
- DO help your community
- DO be shameful about wicked acts and make amends
- DO nourish relationships
- DO lead by example
- DO seek first to understand, then to be understood
- DO follow my passions
- DO think win-win when working with others
- DO always seek to learn something new
- DO form independent opinions on the basis of your own reason and experience
- DO always respect others who disagree with you
- DO enjoy and explore sex in a safe way
- DO NOT discriminate or oppress
- DO NOT steal
- DO NOT lie
- DO NOT be a hypocrite
- DO NOT be materialistic
- DO NOT commit adultury
- DO NOT judge
- DO NOT seek retribution
- DO NOT be suspicious
- DO NOT engage in violence to any living thing
- DO NOT worry about things you can't control
- DO NOT betray someone's trust
- DO NOT let failure cause you to lose faith in your aspirations
- DO NOT let superfluous negative opinions affect you; opinions are human constructs
- DO NOT forget that you will die one day; you only have one chance at life
- DO NOT forget that every person is related to you; we are not that different from one another
- DO NOT let negative emotions control you mind
- DO NOT be ashamed to ask for help
- DO NOT allow external evils to affect your internal happiness, realize they are separate
- DO NOT engage in sexual misconduct
- DO NOT overindulge in intoxicants
- DO NOT be vain
- DO NOT be selfish
And there it is. Fifty, neatly categorized into do's and do not's.
It's funny, some of these seem so basic that I bet you think you are beyond them, like "don't steal", for example. I know I did when I was writing it. But then I challenged myself and it turns out I'm not beyond it. Just yesterday I was trying to think of a way I could get the student discount with my Macbook purchase to save $100, even though I'm not a student. It doesn't have the same guilt associated with it as stealing from an old lady, but it's stealing nonetheless - and lying. Even the oldest virtues are as timeless as when they were first written, apparently. Needless to say, I paid full price after admitting to myself that I was in fact trying to steal.
This list is certainly not complete. Perhaps it will never be complete for me. Yes, I think I like it that way. Rather a continuous working document for the rest of my life. Something I can continuously read as a reminder, and improve upon as I go, like Marcus. He's become somewhat of an idol of mine, except for the fact that he persecuted the Christians in the 2nd century, definitely against multiple virtues listed above!
In the end, I only added a few that I didn't find in one of the sources I researched. It turns out that collectively they were quite comprehensive. This is the end of my post, but for reference, in case anyone is interested, I've listed all the virtues I found, by source, below.
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Jewish
- Honor your parents
- Don't kill
- Don't commit adultury
- Don't steal
- Don't lie
- Don't covet
- Do not hate
- Don't kill
- Don't commit adultury
- Don't steal
- Don't lie
- Don't covet
- Do not hate
Christian
- Admit when you're wrong
- Be compassionate to all
- Be merciful to all
- Be a peacemaker
- Be sincere
- Love everyone
- Be charitable
- Be humble
- Be modest
- Forgive all debtors
- Focus on the now
- Follow the golden rule
- Do not be a hypocrite
- Do not be materialistic
- Do not commit adultery
- Do not judge
- Do not seek retribution
- Do not be suspicious
- Be compassionate to all
- Be merciful to all
- Be a peacemaker
- Be sincere
- Love everyone
- Be charitable
- Be humble
- Be modest
- Forgive all debtors
- Focus on the now
- Follow the golden rule
- Do not be a hypocrite
- Do not be materialistic
- Do not commit adultery
- Do not judge
- Do not seek retribution
- Do not be suspicious
Marcus Aurelius
- Do not worry about things you can't control
- Do good for the community
- Realize that you are insignificant in the grand scheme of the universe
- Do not betray someone's trust
- Be shameful about wicked acts
- Do not hate
- Do not be suspicious
- Do not wish ill-will on others
- Do not be a hypocrite
- Do not do anything you wouldn't mind everyone knowing
- Do not sacrifice your morals, not even for the greater good
- Do not let failure cause you to lose faith in your aspirations
- Do not let negative opinions affect you by realizing that opinions are human constructs
- Do not forget that you will die one day; you only have once chance at life
- Do not lie
- Be positive
- Be grateful
- Do not overvalue anything; everything will end
- Do not forget that every person is related to you, and is less different from you than you think
- Do not let your emotions control you mind
- Do not be ashamed to ask for help
- Do not allow external evils to affect your internal happiness
- Do good for the community
- Realize that you are insignificant in the grand scheme of the universe
- Do not betray someone's trust
- Be shameful about wicked acts
- Do not hate
- Do not be suspicious
- Do not wish ill-will on others
- Do not be a hypocrite
- Do not do anything you wouldn't mind everyone knowing
- Do not sacrifice your morals, not even for the greater good
- Do not let failure cause you to lose faith in your aspirations
- Do not let negative opinions affect you by realizing that opinions are human constructs
- Do not forget that you will die one day; you only have once chance at life
- Do not lie
- Be positive
- Be grateful
- Do not overvalue anything; everything will end
- Do not forget that every person is related to you, and is less different from you than you think
- Do not let your emotions control you mind
- Do not be ashamed to ask for help
- Do not allow external evils to affect your internal happiness
Buddhist
- Be kind
- Be compassionate
- Be sympathetic
- Be calm
- Do not engage in sexual misconduct
- Do not take intoxicants
- Do not engage in violence to any living thing
- Show reverence
- Show humility
- Show gratitude
- Show patience
- Be generous
- Be compassionate
- Be sympathetic
- Be calm
- Do not engage in sexual misconduct
- Do not take intoxicants
- Do not engage in violence to any living thing
- Show reverence
- Show humility
- Show gratitude
- Show patience
- Be generous
Confucius
- Tend to relationships
- Lead by example
- Be honest
- Be loyal to those close to you
- Lead by example
- Be honest
- Be loyal to those close to you
Hindu
- Be selfless
- Be kind
- Be empathetic
- Be nonviolent
- Be courageous in the pursuit of truth
- Be kind
- Be empathetic
- Be nonviolent
- Be courageous in the pursuit of truth
Islam
- Do not focus on material things
- Show humility
- Do not be vain
- Show moderation
- Do not be selfish
- Tell the truth
- Reunite friendship with those who have broken off from me
- Be generous
- Demand justice
- Show humility
- Do not be vain
- Show moderation
- Do not be selfish
- Tell the truth
- Reunite friendship with those who have broken off from me
- Be generous
- Demand justice
Greeks
- Odinic Rite
- Courage
- Truth
- Honour
- Fidelity
- Discipline
- Hospitality
- Self Reliance
- Industriousness
- Perseverance
- Courage
- Truth
- Honour
- Fidelity
- Discipline
- Hospitality
- Self Reliance
- Industriousness
- Perseverance
The Atheist Commandments
- Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you.
- In all things, strive to cause no harm.
- Treat your fellow human beings, your fellow living things, and the world in general with love, honesty, faithfulness and respect.
- Do not overlook evil or shrink from administering justice, but always be ready to forgive wrongdoing freely admitted and honestly regretted.
- Live life with a sense of joy and wonder.
- Always seek to be learning something new.
- 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.
- Never seek to censor or cut yourself off from dissent; always respect the right of others to disagree with you.
- Form independent opinions on the basis of your own reason and experience; do not allow yourself to be led blindly by others.
- Question everything.
- 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.
- Do not discriminate or oppress on the basis of sex, race or (as far as possible) species.
- Do not indoctrinate your children. Teach them how to think for themselves, how to evaluate evidence, and how to disagree with you.
- Value the future on a timescale longer than your own.
- Do not condemn people on the basis of their ethnicity or their color.
- Do not ever even think of using people as private property.
- Despise those who use violence or the threat of it in sexual relations.
- Hide your face and weep if you dare to harm a child.
- Do not condemn people for their inborn nature. ("Why would God create so many homosexuals, only to torture and destroy them?")
- Be aware that you, too, are an animal, and dependent on the web of nature. Try to think and act accordingly.
- Do not imagine you can avoid judgment if you rob people [by lying to them] rather than with a knife.
- Turn off that fucking cell phone.
- Denounce all jihadists and crusaders for what they are: psychopathic criminals with ugly delusions and terrible sexual repressions.
- Reject any faith if their commandments contradict any of the above.
- In all things, strive to cause no harm.
- Treat your fellow human beings, your fellow living things, and the world in general with love, honesty, faithfulness and respect.
- Do not overlook evil or shrink from administering justice, but always be ready to forgive wrongdoing freely admitted and honestly regretted.
- Live life with a sense of joy and wonder.
- Always seek to be learning something new.
- 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.
- Never seek to censor or cut yourself off from dissent; always respect the right of others to disagree with you.
- Form independent opinions on the basis of your own reason and experience; do not allow yourself to be led blindly by others.
- Question everything.
- 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.
- Do not discriminate or oppress on the basis of sex, race or (as far as possible) species.
- Do not indoctrinate your children. Teach them how to think for themselves, how to evaluate evidence, and how to disagree with you.
- Value the future on a timescale longer than your own.
- Do not condemn people on the basis of their ethnicity or their color.
- Do not ever even think of using people as private property.
- Despise those who use violence or the threat of it in sexual relations.
- Hide your face and weep if you dare to harm a child.
- Do not condemn people for their inborn nature. ("Why would God create so many homosexuals, only to torture and destroy them?")
- Be aware that you, too, are an animal, and dependent on the web of nature. Try to think and act accordingly.
- Do not imagine you can avoid judgment if you rob people [by lying to them] rather than with a knife.
- Turn off that fucking cell phone.
- Denounce all jihadists and crusaders for what they are: psychopathic criminals with ugly delusions and terrible sexual repressions.
- Reject any faith if their commandments contradict any of the above.
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