We all know the Ten Commandments...even if you aren't a Christian you know of them. They have been around forever. They have been the subject of many debates and arguments and petitions, and, when I was raised a Catholic, I was told that these Ten Commandments were the be all end all--they applied to every aspect of my life and I was to abide by them in all respects (at play, at work, etc.).
Suddenly it seems that the Vatican doesn't think that these "be all, end all" rules are enough. They have come out with the Ten Commandments for Motorists. Are you serious? The Vatican has endorsed this? Why? Weren't the original ones enough? The Associated Press says that there is no evidence that The Pope actually endorsed it, but his secretary did, and now they are out there. For those of you who haven't seen them yet, here you go:
THE VATICAN'S TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR DRIVERS
- You shall not kill.
- The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.
- Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.
- Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.
- Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.
- Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.
- Support the families of accident victims.
- Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.
- On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.
- Feel responsible toward others.
Anyone else feel that most of these are a little redundant? It seems that "feel responsibility towards others" sounds a lot like "love thy neighbor," "Cars shall not be an expression of power" can be tied into the "thou shalt not covet..."and I am pretty sure that "thou shalt not kill" is one of the originals. So, wouldn't it have saved time, effort and a lot of head scratching if the Vatican had simply made the following announcement:
"Just so everyone knows, the Ten Commandments applies to everything. Even driving. Thank you."
4 rambled with me...:
I'm guessing that they don't want to feel left out so they just bring out commandements to feel empowered. But come on, anyone with good sense could have written down all of this.
Gotcha
True...as I was driving today I had evil thoughts about someone driving too slow--I think I may go to Hell now (at least according to the new commandments.)
"Thou shalt not kill"... Talk about stating the obvious. I think it's funny and I love the idea, they should have thought of referring those ones to the original 10 commandements. You know... save up some time.
As if activists and politicians did not have enough to debate and argue about… I can see it now. New at 11! Catholics and Christians protest outside the local DMV bureau about the DMV not posting the Driving Ten Commandments for all to see. Another reason to keep my church in my chest and my TV tuned into ESPN!
Nice Blog! You should think about writing for a living. You’re good at it, and not just saying that because I’m your hubby. Got to pay for that masters degree somehow. ILU!
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