So, the second commandment has been popping up on my radar a little of late. I'm reading a lot about Byzantine, and for any of the uninitiated, there were basically two 'sports' in Byzantium. Arguing about the Trinity, and arguing about the second commandment.
The Trinity isn't interesting to me, and discussions on it are too esoteric for my simplistic thoughts, but discussions on the second commandment were a little more interesting.
Then tonight, stuck in a hotel room, I was trawling some videos (ads of Adelaide city, of all things), and then clicking on another one, etc, and ended up watching a very short clip of Sam Harris discussing the second commandment.
(Sidenote, it kinda a convuluted trail, and it raised in my head the possibility of a YouTube version of 'six degrees of separation'...)
For what it's worth, here is the vid, although my topic is not strictly about this video...
[youtube]nkTPAWhNIxU[/youtube]
The other thing I'm aware of is that there are different versions of the second commandment, which makes discussion more difficult. And that the very term 'Second Commandment can be interpreted differently.
Well, to hopefully help clear things up, I'm talking about;
Exodus 20:4-6
You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Deuteronomy 5:8-10
You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
============================================
Obviously, anyone can post here, but I'm an atheist. I kinda already know the standard atheist opinion. So I'd ask that any atheists who do post try and offer something to the thread.
My interest is in what the point of this commandment is? Why is it important? What does it add, and is any benefit justifiable when compared to the harm it has caused?
This is the one I think of whenever someone says how central and moral the ten commandments are. I just don't get it (or there's nothing to get).
The Trinity isn't interesting to me, and discussions on it are too esoteric for my simplistic thoughts, but discussions on the second commandment were a little more interesting.
Then tonight, stuck in a hotel room, I was trawling some videos (ads of Adelaide city, of all things), and then clicking on another one, etc, and ended up watching a very short clip of Sam Harris discussing the second commandment.
(Sidenote, it kinda a convuluted trail, and it raised in my head the possibility of a YouTube version of 'six degrees of separation'...)
For what it's worth, here is the vid, although my topic is not strictly about this video...
[youtube]nkTPAWhNIxU[/youtube]
The other thing I'm aware of is that there are different versions of the second commandment, which makes discussion more difficult. And that the very term 'Second Commandment can be interpreted differently.
Well, to hopefully help clear things up, I'm talking about;
Exodus 20:4-6
You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Deuteronomy 5:8-10
You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
============================================
Obviously, anyone can post here, but I'm an atheist. I kinda already know the standard atheist opinion. So I'd ask that any atheists who do post try and offer something to the thread.
My interest is in what the point of this commandment is? Why is it important? What does it add, and is any benefit justifiable when compared to the harm it has caused?
This is the one I think of whenever someone says how central and moral the ten commandments are. I just don't get it (or there's nothing to get).