How can the Decalogue influence one's behaviors?

Answer 1

The first four commandments* of the Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, are religious instructions. The fifth commandment is a useful social rule, but arguably not a moral guide. The last five commandments are moral guides.

The four religious commandments are central to the Jewish and Christian religions. They influence belief, but arguably not behaviour.

The fifth commandment is to honour your father and your mother, although the meaning of this may be unclear. The early Jews imposed the death penalty on a son who even struck his father or mother. Arguably it was the penalty that affected behaviour more directly, not the commandment. Nowadays, the fifth commandment probably has little real effect on behaviour.

The sixth commandment prohibits unlawful killing. We are probably more constrained by cultural abhorrence of murder and by the secular laws, than by this commandment.

The seventh commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery", is not as obvious as it seems. It does not prohibit conduct such as paedophilia, polygamy, premarital sex or mistresses. We are constrained by the secular laws against paedophilia and bigamy. Otherwise, evidence in the news from time to time demonstrates that even the most pious believers seem to be uninfluenced by this commandment.

The next commandment, "Thou shalt not steal", should be interpreted as including equivalent behaviour, such as tax evasion, fraud, petty theft, fare evasion or any unfair financial advantage. The widespread evidence of petty theft, fare evasion, tax evasion and related crimes suggests that it is only the risk of being caught that really influences behaviour, even in strongly Christian countries such as the United States.

"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour" is a very narrow definition of lying, protecting only the reputation of others. I prefer to see this as an admonition against all forms of lying, as do many scholars. There are probably many instances where lying is justified, and everyone tells lies, but I doubt whether they stop for a moment to think about the Decalogue before doing so.

The tenth commandment requires us not to even covet, or secretly wish for, what belongs to another man - his goods, his wife or his female slave. Hopefully no one we know keeps slaves any more, but other than that this is possibly the commandment that most likely influences the behaviour of some.

Overall, it appears that, while religion may overall have an influence on our behaviour, the Ten Commandments can probably have little real influence.

* There are slight differences in the ordering of the Catholic and Protestant Ten commandments, but the wording is unchanged.