10
Feb
10

The Ten Commandments of GodStone

Sunday, November 15, 2009 at 8:18pm

The Church of GodStone

Ten Commandments
of GodStone

 

Commandments by number, with comments and corollaries

Commandment I

Thou shalt maintain deference for the Holy One of GodStone,
Who are infinitely greater than mere mortals.

— Corollary 1 —
Knowledge of the Holy One is unattainable by the limited intelligence and character of mortals.
Dogmatic assertions of knowledge of the Will of the Holy One demonstrate this truth.

— Sub-Corollary A —
The Holy One are unknowably many, for She resides with Her Paramore for the Completion of Sameness,
and the Paramore is that which is All – Beginning, Eternity, and Ending – for the Holy One.

— Sub-Corollary B —
Understanding of each and all Commandments, including Commandment I, is subject to Commandment I.

— Corollary 2 —
In worship, mortals presume to have knowledge of the Holy One
and Their relationship to deities greater than mere mortals.
Hence, they may not worship any other than Holy One of GodStone,
nor may they disparage the forms of worship by those who do not worship Them.

— Corollary 3 —
No mortal can truly know Her will or act as Their proxy, hence,
claims on, from, or to the Authority of the Holy One, are void.

— Sub-Corollary A —
Judgement is Theirs, sayeth the Holy One; judge only as you have judged yourself.

 Commandment II

Thou shalt not damage anything indiscriminately,
that thine emotional energy may be directed toward productive ends.

— Corollary 1 —
Usurpation is arrogance, so do not damage anything which isn’t yours.

— Sub-Corollary A —
Do not damage anything at the behest of the owner,
lest you become a proxy for their violation of Commandment II.

— Sub-Corollary B —
That which has no owner is owned by all mortals, so do not damage it.

— Corollary 2 —
The value of your fellow mortals is never less than your own, so you may not kill or damage them.

— Sub-Corollary A —
You have value to the Holy One, so do not damage yourself.

 Commandment III

Thou shalt devote some small time to the Holy One,
and a much greater time to one’s own pleasure and improvement,
and a still greater time to that which benefits other mortals,
for only in this manner may the Holy One be granted eminence.

Commandment IV

Thou shalt be productive,
for the needs of mortals are many and great, and the time granted to serve those needs is transient.

Commandment V

Thou shalt have affection for thy mortal family and for steadfast friends,
for mortals will die like flowers in a desert without giving and receiving from each other.

— Corollary 1 —
Those who reared you from infancy have freely given you that which you could not have given yourself,
so reserve greatest affection for them.

 Commandment VI

Thou shalt not steal.

— Corollary 1 —
Theft damages others and yourself and diverts others and yourself from productive pursuits.
Do not take another mortal’s possession by stealth or by subterfuge,
nor usurp their relationship with another.

 Commandment VII

Thou shalt not contemplate the theft of another mortal’s possession,
for neither the Holy One nor thine own self is deceived.

Commandment VIII

Thou shalt not be hypocritical.

— Corollary 1 —
The Commandments are One.
You may not persist in the presumed observation of a Commandment by the violation of another Commandment.

— Corollary 2 —
It is easy to rationalize contradictions to the direct meaning of the Commandments.
You may not grant the observation of rituals a priority over serving the Holy One, or oneself, or other mortals.

— Sub-Corollary A —
Such rationalisation and self-delusion is the inherent and errant guide of mortals,
from which all violations of the Commandments devolve.
You will learn and practice critical and skeptical thought.

— Corollary 3 —
Truth destroys hypocrisy.
You must candidly and unequivocably acknowledge your deficiencies and errors.

 Commandment IX

Thou shalt establish means by which thou may adhere to these Commandments,
for obedience is the harvest from a planting of deliberate self-control.

Commandment X

Thou shalt not be invariably literal.

— Corollary 1 —
Dogma is the converse of critical thought and skepticism.
You may not be dogmatic, except in observing Commandment VIII.

— Sub-corollary A —
These Commandments are an exemplar of a contradiction,
so you may not regard the Ten Commandments of GodStone
as being immutably or incontrovertibly ten in number.
They are all One.

 

Premise: A viable religion may be formed from the gaps, either overt or effective, in existing religions.
A viable religion may seek to establish directly those things which existing religions indirectly establish
or to which they merely allude.

~ ~ ~ Copyright 2009-2010 James R. Stone ~ ~ ~


3 Responses to “The Ten Commandments of GodStone”


  1. 1 Jim
    June 8, 2010 at 8:38 pm

    sentient meat, it certainly was fun fiddling with this idea! yep, you have found some places that need a sharp pencil – I wish that I could afford a professional proofreader when you aren’t handy.

    Some meanings and thoughts are very hard to express. I have regarded this as a starting point for discussion and clarification. It would be fun to talk to some folks and explain why I regard certain things as Corollary and Sub-corollary.

    Thanks for your comment. Can you come up with an 11th Commandment?

  2. June 8, 2010 at 3:51 pm

    ‘Judgment’ misspelled.

    Nice work. Overall it’s a fun idea and the execution has merit. And I like the ideas (I think… in a couple places it’s hard to tell).

    By way of constructive (and utterly unsolicited) criticism, I think it could still benefit from a bit tighter editing. It remains a bit scattered in effect, even taking into account the stylistic vehicle — a plausible choice but difficult to pull off — of King James-ish “holy-speak”. And there are places I’m just not sure what the piece means, e.g., “…usurp their relationship with another.” Don’t steal your friend’s girlfriend or boyfriend? I’m not quite sure.

    A specific nit: I-3. “… Holy One, are void.” — extraneous comma incorrectly separates subject and predicate.

    Throughout, the use of ‘you’ or ‘thou’ should be more consistent. The same goes for questionable commas (and extraneous, multiple ‘or’ in sequence). Combing some of that out would improve the piece.

    I think you can have both clarity and gentle satire if you edit with an eye toward a tad more standard grammar and syntax. This will sharpen the ideas in the piece while maintaining the ‘old-timey’ esthetic I think you’re aiming for.

    Regards!

    –S.M.


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