One of my favorite commandments is

[zdashamber]

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

I find it interesting that three millenia ago, the Hebrews thought this was crucial enough that they included it in their top ten pillars of a correct lifestyle. And it's not even one of the wordy legalistic ones: that's just how it's written in Exodus 20, right there with "Thou shalt not kill" and "Thou shalt not commit adultery" and "Thou shalt not steal."

I seem to recall something from Sunday school about how "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor" was a prohibition on lying: but that claim perverts the point of the commandment and dilutes the impact. For dilution, as it's often pointed out, lying can be both good and necessary. A couple of Dan Savage quotes on the subject I saved for their particular wisdom:

While honesty and openness get all the good press—too much good press, in my opinion—the crucial role that deceit plays in the health and survival of long-term relationships is too often overlooked. The fact is, without gentle spinning, the omission of damning details, and the occasional bald-faced lie, no relationship would last more than a week.
...
We all wind up having to live up to the lies we told about ourselves, and it's this living up to the lies that often makes us better people. With some effort, and provided the lies weren't huge, we can make the lies come true.
--Dan Savage, column from 9/17/03

So what is "no false witness" actually about? Right next to "Thou shalt not assassinate a man" the ten commandments say, "Neither shalt thou assassinate his character."

The Jews seem to have put a lot of quality thought into this. The first place I found where anyone religious had come in on the subject of not fucking up people's non-meat selves was the online comic "Shabot 6000" which linked to a page on the concept of Lashon Ha-Ra. It's a fascinating page; apparently Jewish thought takes the concept of "no false witness," and by drawing in other Bible bits expands that into "no harmful witness." One quote from the page is:

Judaism is intensely aware of the power of speech and of the harm that can be done through speech. The rabbis note that the universe itself was created through speech.

I don't know of any other religion that makes a point of trying to keep people from hurting each other in the social sphere.

Which brings me to one of the many quizzes I've taken and then stashed away:

You scored as Satanism. Your beliefs most closely resemble those of Satanism! Before you scream, do a bit of research on it. To be a Satanist, you don't actually have to believe in Satan. Satanism generally focuses upon the spiritual advancement of the self, rather than upon submission to a deity or a set of moral codes. Do some research if you immediately think of the satanic cult stereotype. Your beliefs may also resemble those of earth-based religions such as paganism. </td> Christianity 58% Satanism 58% atheism 54% agnosticism 46% Buddhism 42% Paganism 33% Judaism 33% Hinduism 21% Islam 21% Which religion is the right one for you? (new version) created with QuizFarm.com

Much as I admire some Jewish religious thought, I recognize that we're not very good fits. I am, in fact, pleased that I scored barely more than halfway on any of the proffered choices of religion. I'm happy with the scores of the bottom four, and I'm pleased with the contents of the top four: they pretty well cover the bases, eh?

The lack of applicable results ties into my other favorite commandment:

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Indicating clearly and from the highest authority that there are other gods...

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Last note of interest: while looking for the Shabot 6000 comic I came across this page on office gossip from "The Jewish Ethicist", which includes among other good and deep thoughts:

The Jewish ethical writings emphasize that judging others favorably has a powerful positive influence on their character.

Comments

[aiyume.livejournal.com]

I gather from what little I've studied that there are much better languages than English for talking about spiritual/philosophical matters. Hebrew is one of them.

Also, your test results reminded me of my old label for myself "athe-agnostic humanist Christian". These days, I don't even bother trying to label myself.

I was also reminded of Beliefnet's Belief-o-matic. It's an interesting test that asks you questions about what you belive and how important the issues are to you and comapres you with about 30 or so different religions. Thought you might find it interesting.