With all this blather about if and when it is proper to display the (Biblical) “10 Commandments” (but which version? there are so many), it’s worth remembering that the “Ten Commandments” which truly underpin our system of ethics, democracy, and law come from a very different source. The commandments in question are those of Solon the Athenian. He lived from 638 BCE to 558 BCE (approximately), and in 594 BCE he was chosen to draw up the first written civil constitution, something that no prophet or rabbi did. Solon is the founder of democracy as we know it, and his commandments have stood the test of time. They don’t include prescriptions that apply only to one small sect, nor do they include ideas (such as sabbath-keeping and proscribing graven images) which few acknowledge and vanishingly few actually pay any attention to. The only reference to religion is the good advice to be appropriately respectful of everybody’s deities:
- Trust good character more than promises.
- Do not speak falsely.
- Do good things.
- Do not be hasty in making friends, but do not abandon them once made.
- Learn to obey before you command.
- When giving advice, do not recommend what is most pleasing, but what is most useful.
- Make reason your supreme commander.
- Do not associate with people who do bad things.
- Honor the gods.
- Have regard for your parents.
See Richard Carrier’s The Real Ten Commandments for the whole story – including Solon’s claim to fame as the author of the RKBA! If any set of ancient commandments deserve a place in our courtrooms, it is those of Solon.