Saturday, September 18, 2010

Tao Bible - Exodus 21:17

And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
~ King James version ~

Tao does not punish (nor reward) human conduct.
~ possible Taoist alternative ~
God tells Moses that any child who speaks against a parent should be put to death.

Human standards and mores are developed by human society, not anyone or anything else. It is we who decide what conduct is appropriate and what is not.

If you're interested in reading more from this experimental series, go to the Tao Bible Index page.

4 comments:

  1. Cursing someone isn't the same as speaking against them. It's got the "I wish you harm" rather than just "I disagree with you" undertone.

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  2. Well, no. From what I've picked up on this site, Tao is neither a being nor does Tao have a will for how things are run, besides maybe just "naturally" so I would assume that "caring" is not something that Tao would do on a regular basis if at all.
    To care about how something is done implies that there is a right way or a better way to do something, and (correct me if I'm wrong, I have not actually studied much Taoism at all) Tao doesn't distinguish between right and wrong, or better/worse, because everything needs balance, yes?

    And, on that note, this whole series seems to me kinda strange in that you are trying to compare a being with a set will and desire for how things should be run (therefore creating the 10 commandments) with Tao which does not seek to influence how things happen. Am I understanding this correctly? I may just be undereducated in Taoism...

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  3. The purpose of this series is to illustrate two different worldviews. One, Christianity, is made up of external rules imposed by a supernatural being who has a "personality" not that different from humans.

    The other, Taoism, stresses an internal perspective that looks to nature for clues as to the "way of the world."

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