We hear this worded in various ways: “The Ten Commandments are the foundation of Western morality, the American government, and the Constitution.” By saying this, people are essentially associating Moses with the invention of morality, democracy, and civil rights, which is, of course, highly absurd. But the absurdity behind this view has been overshadowed by injustice, for there is another legislator who is far more important to Western Civilization, the one in whose ideas and actions lie the foundations of the American government, and the whose own Ten Commandments spread widely and influenced the greatest civilizations of the West, such as Greece and Rome, and for over half a millennium before the laws of Moses exercised an almost universal social influence.
In fact, by the time the Ten Commandments had any real chance of being the foundation of anything in Western society, democracy and civil (and human rights) rights were all dead, never to be resurrected until the ideals of the true hero, the real man to whom we all owe respect, were discovered and applied in what we now call “Modern Democratic Principles.”
The legislator we are referring to is Solon the Athenian. Solon was born, we believe, around 638 BC, and lived until about 558 BC. , but the most important date for us is the year in which a legislator was elected to create a Constitution for Athens, 594 BC.
How important is this person? Let’s see what we owe Solon
(compared to the legendary author Moses or after all, according to legend, the pompous Judeo-Christian Ten Commandments).
- Solon is the founder of Western democracy and the first man in history to conceive the idea of equal rights for all citizens. His ideas, although they were not developed in the form they have today, cannot in any case be the subject of a claim by Moses.
- Solon was the first man in Western history to write a public political constitution. No Moses in Jewish history took a similar action.
- Solon advocated not only the right but the duty of every citizen to defend himself against the state – to him we owe the Second Amendment. Nothing of the sort is discernible in the Ten Commandments of Moses.
- Solon enacted laws that defended the principles and importance of private property, encouraged the economic status of various trades and arts, and the formation of a strong middle class—the ideals at the heart of American prosperity, ideas that by no means they cannot be credited to Moses.
- Solon is the first man in history to abolish birth as a basis for assuming government offices, and he helped establish democratic assemblies, open to all male citizens, so that no law could be passed without a majority of the whole. The concept of granting full political rights to women will not be seen then, nor in any culture of modern Europe for many years to come, but in the Holy Bible the concept of democracy never emerges.
- Solon invented the right of appeal and trial by jury, whereby an assembly of citizens chosen at random, regardless of office, wealth, or origin, gave all legal verdicts. Can Moses claim anything as fundamental as these arrangements, which are absolutely essential to modern society?
- The concept of taking a government official to court for mismanagement is due to Solon.
- The idea of allowing foreigners who possess a useful art to enter the country and become its citizens, is also an original invention of Solon. Indeed, the modern concept of citizenship owes its existence to these ideas. There is nothing like it in the Bible. And like another George Washington, Solon turned down the offer to be the ruler of his country, giving it a Constitution – unlike Moses who gave laws but continued to rule.
- And Solon’s selfless creation of the Athenian constitution set the course for the rise of the first Catholic democracy in the United States. It was in the Athens of Solon, not the Bible, that the founders of the American Nation looked to for guidance in building a new state. Moses cannot claim responsibility for this. If we had Solon and not Moses, it would be very likely that we would be where we are today. But if we had Moses and not Solon, democracy would probably not exist. He gave so much support to the American Constitution. The Ten Commandments of Moses have nothing to do with it, while the Constitution of Solon is directly related to the American Constitution and Democracy.
What about Ethics?
Let us examine the Ten Commandments offered by each of these men (Solon and Moses) and compare their value and importance in Western society.
Let us examine the Ten Commandments offered by each of these men (Solon and Moses) and compare their value and importance in Western society.
Moses is simply borrowing ideas that Hammurabi, king of Babylon, had already carved into stone centuries before (and unlike the supposed tablets of Moses, Hammurabi’s Stone still exists and is on display in the Louvre Museum). On the other hand, the ten moral Dicta (discourses) of Moses reflect in an improved version ancient lessons of wisdom, already known in the time of Solon. In both cases the association of these men with their moral exhortations is more likely legend than fact. Nevertheless, the existence of respect for their words in the respective cultures was and still is real.
Thus, we are led to three questions:
- Which list of Ten Commandments is most at the heart of modern Western moral ideals?
- Which of the two contains concepts that are most responsible for current social success and humanity?
- And which is more deeply embedded in the basis for a free society?
Analysis of the influence of the 10 commandments of Moses on American society
The Ten Commandments of Moses (Deuteronomy 5:6-21, Exodus 20:3-16) appear as follows – and I intend to leave out the generous and overtly religious language that actually surrounds the original text, as well as the implicit acceptance of slavery , as appears in the fourth commandment, since none of these can be considered even remotely suitable for the political support of a free democracy:
- There are no other gods besides me [the God of the Jews].
- You shall not make for yourself idols or any kind of likeness that represents anything that is in heaven above or here on earth or in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them, for I the LORD your God am a God who demands exclusivity.
- Do not take the name of your God [the God of the Jews] in vain.
- Do no work on the seventh day of the week.
- Honor your parents.
- Do not kill.
- Do not commit adultery.
- Do not steal.
- Do not bear false witness against another.
- Do not covet another’s wife or anything that belongs to another.
Now, we can see at once that American society is entirely opposed to the first four, and especially to the last of these ten. As a capitalist society, American society scoffs at the idea of closing stores by choice on a shopping day. And the main goal of American citizens is desire – desire is the driving force that leads to success and prosperity.
The phrase “pursuing the American dream,” which is at the heart of American society, hides at its core the idea of usurping the success of others. It induces American citizens to identify it with their own industry, and they owe all the monumental national success of the United States to it. Finally, the ideals of religious freedom and freedom of speech, essential to any real civil society, compel citizens to abhor the first three commandments. Thus, already half of the doctrines of Moses cannot be the foundation of modern American society – on the contrary, they are anathema to modern ideas. From the rest of the commandments, it can be confirmed that the avoidance of adultery did not contribute to the development of civil rights and democratic principles (despite the great effort, there is no amendment for adultery). Of course, it is regarded as immoral – but it has always been so, in all societies, and before the time of Moses, for the simple reason that, like lying, stealing, and murder, it causes harm to others.
Thus, these commands are unnecessary since they are superficial. It would be more useful to summarize them in just three words: do no harm. These words constitute the first commandment of another Greek ethicist whose social contribution lies at the heart of modern reality: I refer to the founder of scientific medicine, Hippocrates. Finally, we are left with only one commandment, to honor our parents.
This, of course, was a fundamental principle of every society, as when “societies” were created. However, the greatest development of civil rights and moral consciousness in human history occurred, not as a result of obeying, but, on the contrary, disobeying this command: the social revolutions of the sixties, naturally hated by conservatives and still spearheaded rebellious teenagers and young adults. However, they secured the moral rights of women and minorities – something unprecedented in human history.
Also, with the prevention of the Vietnam War, the children of American citizens appear for the first time as a mass popular movement in defense of the very pacifism that may have been introduced by Christians, without actually fighting for it. One can even claim that the entire American moral system is based on the ethos of individuals who think for themselves, of rebellion and moral autonomy, of daring to stand up even to the elderly when their conscience compels them. Thus, it appears that even this commandment is not at the heart of contemporary American society—it is largely an anachronism, lacking the essential nuances that a deeper morality requires and promotes.
Analysis of the influence of the 10 commandments of Solon on American society
Let us now turn to Solon’s Ten Commandments (Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, 1.60), which are formulated as follows:
- Trust good character more than promises.
- Do not speak falsely.
- Do good things.
- Don’t be in a hurry to make friends, but don’t abandon them once you make friends.
- Learn to obey before giving orders.
- In giving advice, we do not recommend what is most pleasant, but what is most useful.
- Let rational thought be your supreme commander.
- Don’t associate with people who do bad things.
- You honor the gods.
- Consider your parents.
Unlike the commandments of Moses, none of the above commandments are outdated or antithetical to modern American moral or political thought. Each of these could be applied by anyone today, from any religion – with the possible exception of only one. And indeed, there is something much deeper in these commands. They are much more useful as exhortations for living one’s life. Can society, can a government, rule and prosper if we fail to keep the first commandment of Moses? With our own written declaration of religious freedom for all, American citizens have staked the entire national destiny of the United States on the belief that they not only can do without it, but must abolish it altogether.
But what if we fail to keep Solon’s first commandment?
The danger to society would be clear. In fact, doesn’t this command go to the heart of what makes or breaks a democratic society? Is it not absolutely fundamental that we should not believe the promises of politicians and buffoons but elect our leaders and choose our friends by assessing the goodness of their character? This, indeed, may be said to be an ideal of fundamental importance to modern moral and political thought. Now, two of Solon’s commandments are almost identical to those espoused by Moses: do not lie and consider your parents.
Of course, Solon does not limit his first commandment to false accusations or testimony against others, as Moses does. Solon’s precept is deeper and therefore more fundamental, and is supported by the rest of the precepts in an appropriate way – for Solon’s rules even lying is acceptable, if it is done for a good purpose (no such prescription for a ‘good deed’ does not appear in the Ten Commandments of Moses).
And while Moses calls us to honor our parents (in Hebrew, from kabed, “to honor, to glorify”), Solon chooses more appropriate words – he asks us only to treat our parents, with respect (in Greek , from the verb aideomai, “to show regard for, to have compassion upon”), which we can do even if we resent or oppose their views, even if we disapprove of their character and thus have no reason to honor them.
Unlike Moses, Solon doesn’t waste legalistic words – he sums everything up in three words: do good things.
This is an essential moral principle, absent from the commandments of Moses, and enables one to follow all the others. And rather than simply commanding us to follow the rules, Solon’s commands carry important social and political advice: to temper our readiness to rebel and do our own thing (which Solon does not forbid) by first learning how to follow others… Be careful when making friends, always give good advice – and don’t say what people want to hear – avoid bad people. Undoubtedly, these tips are exactly what we need in order to be successful and safe – as individuals, as a community, and even as a nation. The ideals these precepts represent really lie at the foundation of modern American morality and civil society, and would be much more useful to students who face such dangers as bad peer influence, haste, and naivety.
But there is one command that can give a secular pause: Solon’s command to honor the gods (Greek, timaô, “to honor, respect, pay due attention to”). However, when compared to similar first three commandments of Moses, we see how Solon’s only religious commandment can fit into our society and ideal society: it does not limit religious freedom, it does not require us to believe in one God or follow specific religious rules. It remains in the proper plural.
Solon asks us to give the multitude of gods their due value, and we can say that some gods are not of much value – such as the racist gods and the gods of Hades.
Finally, it is appropriate to respect other people’s gods, whether we believe in them or not. Thus, we remain true to the most precious American moral value: that of religious freedom and civility. Although it would be better to suggest now, “Respect the religions of others, there is something in this position that accepts that there are many gods, the gods that people invent and hope for. It is clear, therefore, that if any orders should be posted on the walls of schools and Court Houses, they would be those of Solon.
He has more rights as the founder of our civil ideals, and as a deeper and almost modern contemplative morality. Its mandates are better suited to civil society, better represent what we really believe and enjoy through our laws and economy. And indeed, in the end, they are essentially secular. Is it a coincidence that when the ideals of Solon prevailed, there developed democracies, civil rights, and ideals that are now considered to have a defining role in modern Western society, while when they were replaced by the ideals of Moses, we had a thousand years of oppression, darkness, and tyranny;
It is a fortuitous fact that when the ideals of Moses were replaced by those of Solon, when men decided to fight and die not for the Ten Commandments but for the resurrection of Athenian civil society, we ended up with the great democratic revolutions and the social and legal structures that we now take for granted, such as the height and glory of human achievement and moral goodness? I think we owe our thanks to Solon.
