As many of you know, the Ten Commandments are a set of moral guidelines that were believed to be written by God, and given to Moses in the form of two stone tablets. Many Christian and Jewish believers alike have since revered these historic commandments as a compass towards eternal life.

Much has changed in the world since these criteria were established, and many new acts of deviance and evil have risen. There are new habits and addictions that could not have even been imagined in Biblical times. This begs the question, what should the 11th Commandment be?

To recap for those of you who may have missed Church last Sunday:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honour thy father and thy mother
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet.

So here we are, with our Ten Commandments. From where I'm seated, it seems like there may be quite a bit missing from the list. With a list like this, I'd be pardoned for even my College years. So once again the question is before us, what should the 11th commandment be?

Drug Use
Speaking of the college years, our first option is the use of drugs. We're not talking about sipping the sacred wine, or even puffing on the holy herb here and there. We are talking about drug abuse, the type that is often a precursor to many of the other sins already set in place by the original Ten Commandments. Let's focus on the actual drug use, and not the events which may follow. Drug abuse is defined by the Treatment Solution Network as “Habitual use of drugs to alter one's mood, emotion, or state of consciousness”. One could argue that an altered perception of earth would not be the way God intends men to live. Others may say that the Lord would not want men to destroy themselves with such fruits of temptation. Still others may argue that drug abuse only affects the person involved, and does not pertain to religion any way whatsoever. Should the compulsive use of drugs to alter ones perception be deemed a sin in the eyes of the Church?

Pornography
This has been a hot topic now, particularly with the rise of the internet in modern culture. The Ten Commandments read “thou shall not commit adultery”. This certainly leaves a lot of room for interpretation, and much room for debate. It seems that looking at Pornography was never mentioned, probably because there was none at the time. Some will argue that this may already addressed with “thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife”. Thy neighbor's wife however represents a real person, and not a digital or photographic image as is the case with pornography. Should admiring a nude person photo be seen as the next biggest sin in the eyes of the Church?

Masturbation
Not far from Pornography, but we will treat this separately however. Even the most holy of men must have been tempted on those lonely hot nights in Bethlehem. Many of the churches today will preach that masturbation is wrong, and the modern day equivalent of Adam and Eve tempted by the apple. If it was not intended for by God, how come it was not in the original 10 Commandments? Should having sex with oneself merit the 11th evil on the list of Commandments?

Pedophilia
In the original Ten Commandments, it is said that “thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife”. Nowhere however does it state that one should lust after children. It seems like it's only been the recent past that children can no longer Trick-Or-Treat by themselves on Halloween, or play in the yard without being watched by a parent. The internet combined with Dateline has brought more attention to the evil that lurks behind even the most trustworthy looking individuals. Those predators that lust after children are looked down upon as the dredges of society, and even at the bottom of the food chain in places such as prison. They are the lowest of the low, the real life boogie men of a modern age. Should this be deemed the 11th Commandment in the eyes of the Church? My personal opinion is that we should change the sixth commandment to “Thou shall not kill, unless they touched a child”.

We know there are many more that could have been added to this list, but wanted to offer up the blatantly obvious. We felt these would top the list, but look forward to your comments. It will be interesting to see what many of you think would make a good 11th commandment.

Titus Faulk
The Sacred Mint