For those who are not familiar with the 10 Commandments or the 11th Commandment, the first two videos below offer recapitulations or summaries. Under the leadership of Moses over 3,500 years ago (or about 1500 B.C.), God freed the Jewish people from Egyptian servitude. God delivered to Moses 10 Commandments, principles, or laws by which the freed Jewish people should model their day-to-day lives. A little over 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ appeared on the scene. Jesus Christ was the self-proclaimed Son of God. Jesus Christ offered his followers an 11th Commandment. And, now in this year of 2017, I am proposing a 12th Commandment. The 12th Commandment simply says, "Thou shalt not be prejudiced."
To be prejudiced means to treat another person differently based on certain characteristics or based on certain preconceived notions. To not be prejudiced, for instance, means to treat everyone the same regardless of differences in race, age, skin color, physical traits, creed, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, health, nationality, socioeconomic status, political affiliation, geographic location, political-economic system, and so forth.
I realize that there are some readers across the globe who might take issue with one or more of these commandments, especially those readers who do not adhere to the Judeo-Christian religious tradition. I, for one, concede that humans do not really need love to live—albeit if humans were to grow to be more compassionate towards one another, then it would be a worthwhile and noble achievement and, ultimately, a better planet on which to live. However, instead of loving one another, humans simply need to treat one another with courtesy and respect.
I will be among the first to admit that being respectful and courteous to all often is something that is easier said than done. That is to say, there are some humans who have nasty attitudes, terrible dispositions, anger management issues, psychological issues, who appear to be mad at the world for no apparent reason, and who only seem to want to be confrontational, rude, and disagreeable with others. What are well-meaning citizens to do when confronted with this type of acerbic, counter-productive, and anti-social behavior? Hatred is not the answer. As children make the transition from childhood into adulthood, parents and schools—and places of worship, too—have got to strive harder to keep children from choosing to walk down the acerbic and anti-social road of life. As children reach the crossroad of maturation, parents and schools—and places of worship, too—must strive harder to keep them traveling down the positive, productive, lawful, and socially acceptable road of life.
It was Sir Isaac Newton who observed that for every physical action, there is an equal but opposite reaction. I find that Sir Isaac Newton's observation also applies to the phenomenon of human prejudice. That is to say, for perpetrators, acts of prejudice only lead to unequal treatment, bias, discrimination, and feelings of hatred towards the recipients of prejudice. For those who are on the receiving end of prejudice, some of their reactions to it include anger, violence, feelings of hatred, feelings of low self-esteem, and even suicidal feelings. One of the more extreme opposite reactions to prejudice would be a mass shooting, for example, in cases where a child had been repeatedly taunted, teased, and bullied by his or her classmates to the breaking point of that child grabbing a firearm and shooting up the school. I have said it elsewhere on more occasions than one, and I will repeat it here: Murder is wrong. Prejudice is wrong, too.
There are endearing or well-meaning nicknames, and there are disparaging or ill-intentioned nicknames. I recall when the tabloid newspapers began to disparagingly refer to Michael Jackson by the nickname "Wacko Jacko." The disparaging nickname stuck to Michael Jackson, and he found the label to be very hurtful after having to live with it for years. And, now, as of the 2017, the President of the United States [Donald Trump] is engaging in the same type of name-calling conduct with such rejoinders as "Crooked Hillary [Clinton]," "Psycho Joe [Scarborough]", "low I.Q. Crazy Mika [Brzezinski]", and so forth. The President's name-calling behavior sets a bad example for Americans, in particular, and for humanity, in general. The President's name-calling behavior is not at all helpful in preparing Americans and humankind for 22nd century living. Constructive criticism is one thing but to demean and demonize others is something totally different.
The 12th Commandment, in essence, is a paraphrasing of the Golden Rule. The Golden Rule says to do unto others as you would have them do unto you, which means to treat others the same way that you would want to be treated. Except a handful of humans who might be suffering from some type of pathological condition or from some type of psychosomatic trauma, humans generally do not choose to be mistreated on their own volition. Circumstances and situations in life do arise to cause some humans to submit to mistreatment against their free wills, for instance, the Holocaust, slavery, human trafficking, sex trafficking, spousal abuse, child abuse, elderly abuse, and so forth.
12 Commandments: 1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 2. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. 5. Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 6. Thou shalt not kill. 7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 8. Thou shalt not steal. 9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's. 11. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 12. Thou shalt not be prejudiced.
Anyone who is familiar with the Edward E. Bruessard series of websites would know that my life's primary focus has been on the here and now rather than me being concerned about the afterlife or life after death. I have witnessed a great many life forms perish during my lifetime—both human and non-human life forms including both plant and animal life forms (mainly to be devoured as food) —and I have formed my opinion about where death is headed. I remain confident that humans can transform Earth into a Heaven-like paradise for the living to enjoy each day. The deserts could be made to bloom if humans were to make it their duty. Instead, it seems that far too many humans are preoccupied with spending trillions of dollars preparing for war, destruction, and killing rather than being concerned about transforming Earth into some form of Heaven.
The next desert-into-bloom bloc of pictures is meant to inspire a human mind shift. The pictures represent the kind of shift in thinking that humans must begin to embrace globally if they are to achieve a state of Heaven on Earth for the living to enjoy each day. NASA's Climate Kids and Greenroofs.com's Greenroofs.com websites are illustrative of this new shift in thinking.
This page represents one of those occasions in life where there is a uniting of religion and science into a harmonious balance. In this instance, the glue that harmoniously binds science and religion together is a common recognition of the wondrous miracle of life on Earth. While scientists and religious leaders might disagree about the origins of life on Earth, there is a common recognition by both camps that life is precious and is something to be honored, revered, preserved, and cherished. There is no science-versus-religion animus, ill will, or disagreement here; the only real distinction here is a permanent quest for Heaven in the ether to be enjoyed in the afterlife with God versus a permanent quest for Heaven on Earth to be enjoyed right now by the living each day. The goal of both camps is the same, which is for humans to elevate their conduct to the highest ethical plane on a daily basis.
In the time between birth and death, humans have a lot of life to live—that is, about 75 or so years of life to live. Admittedly, the bulk of those 75 years will be spent in school getting an education and working to earn a living. In the words of Meher Baba and Bobby McFerrin, it would be great if humans adopted a "Don't Worry, Be Happy" positive type of attitude towards daily life on Earth rather than being preoccupied with prejudice. The time has come for humankind, collectively, to climb up the ladder towards a better way and a brighter day. There is a time for fun, and, equally, there is a time to get serious about making Earth a better planet on which to live.
Let the celebration of life commence, and it goes something like this:
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