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In the chair: Baroness Helena Kennedy |
The 11th commandment? Avoid lists adding up to 10
THOU shalt respect the fragility of the planet. Thou shalt
not be found out. Thou shalt not wear white socks with black
shoes. Thou shalt smile.
These were some of the suggestions for an 11th biblical-style
commandment from members of the audience at the final event
of this year’s Jewish Book Week at the Royal National Hotel
in Bloomsbury on Sunday night.
At the event, entitled Taking (on) The Tablets, a panel of authors
and columnists, chaired by civil rights lawyer Baroness Helena
Kennedy, were invited to discuss whether the Ten Commandments
still had relevance in the modern world.
Although an atheist, Simon Baron-Cohen, professor of developmental
psychopathology at Cambridge University, described the Ten Commandments
as “a brilliant piece of shorthand for how to create a
civilised society”.
The problem was that rigid rules did not always cover all the
complexities of modern life, so he proposed some commandments
of his own, based on the principle of empathy and human compassion.
They included: “Listen to others, especially if they disagree
with you”, “Put yourselves in other people’s
shoes and try to imagine their feelings”, “Avoid lists
that add up to 10” and “Don’t take yourself too
seriously”.
Michael Bywater, a columnist on the Independent newspaper, said
the problem with the biblical commandments was that the “don’ts”
outnumbered the “do’s” by seven to two.
He added: “We work in our everyday lives by meeting situations
and working out what we should do. The person who says ‘no’
at every turn isn’t going to get anywhere.”
Devout Catholic author Piers Paul Read remembered how he had
been beaten at his Catholic prep school if he couldn’t
remember the commandments. His proposal for an 11th commandment
was “Thou shalt not divorce”.
Journalist, author and sociologist Anne Karpf was scathing about
the commandment not to covet one’s neighbours things. “Well,
come on, our whole society is based on coveting,” she said.
“But I have found the antidote to coveting, and it is one
word: Ikea. I spent an hour there today, and after that the
only thing I coveted was a cup of tea and to be out of there.”
Ms Karpf did suggest one or two commandments of her own, including
“Thou shalt attempt to be less judgemental of other people,
unless they happen to be David Irving, members of the BNP or
people on Celebrity Big Brother” and “Thou shalt attempt
to live life as frugally as possible and think of the planet
at least as often as you go on eBay.”
Newspaper columnist Giles Coren remembered at the age of eight
seeing a cartoon showing Moses on Mount Sinai saying to God:
“Three wishes? You got me all the way up here just to give
me three wishes?”
He explained: “I was aware it was meant to be funny, but
I thought then, and think now, how much more useful three wishes
really would have been instead of those 10 rules.”
Mr Coren said the commandments had no relevance for him, since
he had never broken any of them.
He added: “I don’t steal, I haven’t killed anyone,
I haven’t committed adultery (because I am not married)
and I am really bad at making graven images.” |
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