I knew I couldn’t become a Christian a few years ago when millions of people who call themselves Christians enthusiastically supported a candidate for President who had joyously and without shame broken at least nine of the Ten Commandments (all ten if you count the people who died drinking bleach during Covid).

Lots of people could get around lying all the time, I couldn’t.

While I have always appreciated and been inspired by Jesus Christ,  I realized I could follow him without worshipping him; this freed me to find my own way.

While drawing closer to Jesus, I seemed to be growing farther and farther apart from the Christian hierarchy that was getting into politics, getting into bed with greedy billionaires, overlooking centuries of child abuse, and building lavish and stomach-turning castles for themselves in which to “worship” rather than giving the money to the poor, as Christ requested.

No, I thought, I can’t see Jesus going along with any of that since he pleaded with his followers all of his short life to give their riches to the needy. Of course, they killed him for it. The alleged Christians in those big and fancy churches better pray he doesn’t actually return.

Some years ago, this position of mine would have been blasphemy, but the real blasphemers are often in Church on Sundays. The moral world has turned upside down.

If I wanted a spiritual life, I would have to make my way, which is both just and fair. I try not to judge people who have different ideas than I have. Sometimes, I even succeed.

My response was to start doing good and keep at it for as long as possible. My big idea was that I didn’t need to be a saint, join anything, worship Jesus or even believe in God to do good and be good.

All I had to do was decide to do it. And do it. I didn’t need to work through any system or bureaucracy.  It was a good idea for me, and apparently for many other people as well.

I’m just getting started.

My other idea was to think about creating my own commandments – ones I would follow – and to commit myself to following them since fewer and fewer so-called religious people were paying much attention to the ones Moses brought down from the mountain.

My Commandments are a work in progress.

Here they are:

1. Live my own life, not the life others have chosen for me.

2. Shun labels. They are unholy and mind-killing: Others will always try to label us; that’s how they control and manipulate people and keep them from thinking.  I refuse to accept labels, to be left or right, red or blue, or liberal or conservative. I am more than one thing. I am a rich and wondrous mix of them all. 

3. Embrace change. Learn and grow, learn and grow.

4. Never speak poorly of your life or pity yourself.

5. Never complain about the rising price of things, taxes, or groceries. Prices will always go up, acceptance is essential to a peaceful life, and complaining is the pathway to bitterness and resentment.

6. Do not be an asshole on social media or the Internet.  Respect individuality wherever it can be found. Permit people to own their mistakes and create their successes.  

Don’t steal the grief and troubles of others. They are not yours.

7. Never give up on love. When I opened up to it, I found it.

8. I will not blame others for my many faults. I work hard to face them and take responsibility for them. That is the only way I can heal and be better.

9. I promise to be authentic. I have no secrets; there is nothing to hide or lie about. A thousand pounds have been lifted off of my spirit. I live an open life, good or bad. Take it or leave it. But I won’t accept people presuming to change it.

10.  I will not criticize or judge people I don’t know, have never spoken to, and will never meet. I try to find wise and honest and loving people and listen to what they say. I want to face the truth about myself, good and bad.

11. I will never accept the big lie that strangers have the right to intrude on my life, try to hurt me, and tell me how to live. Only people who love you and who you know and trust have the right to do that.

12. I understand the need to take care of my body and love it as I wish to be loved. That is the path to health for me.

13. Follow my bliss and I will never work a day in my life. Life is a calling, not a job. Money is essential, but so is meaning, compassion, and peace of mind.

14. Respect women and their equality. Help the poor and the vulnerable, the downtrodden and persecuted. Fight for children to be loved and supported, not isolated and shunned or silenced. Do one good thing every day of your life. Tell people when they do a good job.  For me, this is heaven on earth. I don’t need the approval of some prophet or saint up in the sky.

15. Don’t say anything to people from your computer or Iphone that you wouldn’t say to your friends or neighbors face-to-face. It’s rude. Hatred is an act of cowardice; intrusion and cruelty are not rights. I am not morally obligated to be abused by strangers who know nothing about me and care nothing for me.

 

I thought at first that I’d have trouble finding ten commandments, but I see I went over the top. More to come, the idea of commandments is essential; it helps build a moral foundation and helps me understand what fits into my life.

My commandments are organic and fluid. They are tailored to my life and subject to revision.

By watching the religions of the world, I have learned that commandments are only worth something if they are obeyed. Once we stop ignoring them at our convenience, they are useless, and faith loses its moral power, its greatest strength.

Fewer people are turning to organized religion because they see so many “worshippers” do not follow their own beliefs and commandments. If it’s okay for me to break all of my commandments when I feel like it, they are also worthless.

My idea is to update and change them. I won’t be a hypocrite.

If I can’t follow them, I will eliminate them and replace them with something I can accept. I like my list. I have some work to do, but my goal as I grow older is to follow every one of them.