Which commandment

Which commandment do you think is the most important?  Out of the ten spoken by God in Exodus 20:1-17, which do you think we need to obey the most?

The Ten Commandments may be summarised as:

1. Do not worship other gods, ie. other than the One True God;
2. Do not make idols or images to represent God or worship these;
3. Do not treat God's name lightly or disrespectfully;
4. Dedicate the Sabbath for rest;
5. Honour parents;
6. Do not kill another human;
7. Do not have sex outside marriage;
8. Do not steal;
9. Do not lie or falsely accuse another person;
10. Do not desire anything or anyone that does not belong to you.

We do not see many people today following these commandments.

Many worship idols.  Such practice has become acceptable culturally, even if not in the Church.  Many use God's name for swearing.  Few have a Sabbath day of rest, now that many retailers in the cities open their shops 7 days/week.

And if they do have a Sabbath, it is sometimes not on the Sabbath day.  Does this matter?

As a society, we still agree that it is wrong to murder, but we reason self-defence or war as exceptions to the rule.  We think stealing is wrong, but we are not clear about what constitutes theft in petty cases.  A former President of the USA taught us that "greed is good" for the economy, and many now behave as though greed is normal.

Should society turn back to the Ten Commandments?  Is the Ten Commandments now out of date?  What do you think?

What would society be like if society and church treated these commandments seriously?

Whose views regarding whether we obey these commandments matter more?  Ours?  Society's?  God's?

Can we obey these commandments, truly?  How?  Or why not?

Positive parenting

A few of the tips on parenting that I learned are listed below:

• Say it positively, eg. encourage "indoor voice" instead of "do not shout".  Say "tidy your room" rather than "your room is messy".
• Encourage and reward good behaviour.
• Explain consequences of bad behaviour.  Implement those consequences.
• As much as possible, the consequences must be logically connected to the offence.
• A "stop" instruction must be obeyed immediately.  A "go" instruction may be repeated after 5 seconds, but no further follow up.
• No spanking.  Rather, send the child to "quiet time" where he can think about what he did wrong, or to "time out" - a safe isolated area.
• "Time out" is a more positive name than "naughty spot".

What do you think about such a parenting style?  Has it worked for you?

Did our parents do it wrongly?

Is the style of parenting related to culture?

What about the Bible?  Is positive parenting Biblical?  Why did the Bible command some "thou shalt not ..." instead of using these "positive parenting" techniques?  Did God get it wrong?

What has been your experience?  What do you think?

What is "fatwa"?

"Some people use the term to mean an Islamic death sentence imposed upon a person the word "fatwa" is an Arabic word, and it literally means "opinion"."  This seems to be a key point according to the Wikipedia article on this subject.

The opening paragraph of that article said that "in Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar".

So it seems that the world has different opinions about how seriously to take fatawa.  ("Fatawa" is the plural of "fatwa".)

I was drawn to this subject when somebody pointed out on Twitter that some have used fatwa to exploit Syrian women.  It sounded to me that people were taking words beyond what the Koran said, and interpreting the meaning to justify themselves in doing nasty things.

I think self-justification is wrong ... but very human.  It is in our nature to want to think that we are good, when we are actually sinful.  I found it assuring to find another person also expressing that fatawa need not be taken as law - they should be read in context of the background and culture of the mufti scholar who puts it together.

Some fatwa are hard for me to believe, eg. that a curse will be on people who take photographs, except for reason of necessity.  What do you think about such rules?

Do you think people understand the Scriptures in ways to justify their own actions?  The Quran?  The Bible?  What do the Scriptures actually mean?  How does God really expect us to behave?  What does He want us to believe?  Are there expectations and understandings that transcend the boundaries of culture?

What do you believe?

Flattery

"Flattery" is the act of praising someone; often in an insincere way because you wish to gain something from the act.  This is the "meaning given by the Cambridge dictionary.

Do you flatter?  Do you receive flattery?  Why?  How do you respond to it?

Joshua Rogers shared about his experience with flattery in his blog.  He was out with his friend, Holly, when the conversation led him to give her a list of compliments.  Upon receiving these compliments, Holly asked Joshua about his motives.  "... are you interested in me?" was her question.

Joshua, in his naivety, explained that he sincerely believed his words when he paid those compliments.  Holly, however, did not want to be flattered that way, unless the man was interested in her.

Would you call it flattery in such a situation?

Why wouldn't a woman like to receive compliments?

How can a man express himself without being interested?

I wish I understood the dating game better in my years before getting married.  I would befriend people because I like to be friendly ... but never expecting the friendships to develop into anything intimate.  Perhaps some women friends might have wished that I was after relationships that were deeper.  Perhaps they weren't.  Maybe the things that I had said were taken as flattery - sincere ones or otherwise.  Maybe not.

What are the rules of the dating game?  Does every couple understand those rules the same way?  Can one be honest and understood all the time?  When should one wish for relationships that are deeper, and when should one not?

What rules or guidelines would you advise the inexperienced?

Please share.