“In the Church of Science,” offered the Reverend, “our concern focused on the lack of empirical evidence for the original Commandments. Our goal was to eliminate everything that wasn’t supported. Briefly, we tried to modify the original language, but that proved to be more laborious than it was worth. That’s why we abandoned it entirely and stated our ‘revised’ commandments in completely new language in our own voice, not god’s. We followed the subject matter order of the original commandments, as you can tell.”
“Thank you, I look forward to reading them more carefully in the coming days,” said Rick.
“You are certainly welcome,” offered the Reverend. “Let us know if you have further questions after reading them.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you have any additional questions you want to ask?” inquired the Archbishop.
“Although your versions are clearly different, you were both irreverent toward the original text.”
“Yes, that’s a fair characterization,” said the Archbishop.
“Here in the rain forest, we felt free to do whatever we wanted,” added the Reverend, “because there was no higher church authority to draw us back within traditional doctrinal boundaries. It liberated our thinking.”
“When you’d completed your work, were the revised commandments well received by your congregations?”
“Yes. Because our congregations participated fully in the revisions,” said the Reverend, “almost all members were comfortable with the changes. The rewritten versions certainly made a lot more sense than the traditional versions.”
“Did your congregations support these versions?”
“Yes, they did; however, we have continued to think about proper guides for living. It’s a topic of ongoing interest.”
“Tell me more about that,” said Rick.
“The revisions that each of us made to the Commandment text were liberating, but, the more that we thought about the revised texts, it became evident that they remained inadequate,” said the Reverend.
“How so?” asked Rick.
“The basic problem was using the Ten Commandments as a framework for our new rules,” continued the Reverend. “As a result, we were constrained by the topics addressed in each of the original commandments. Amazingly, the first four Commandments were concerned with worshipping God. Four of ten! That was particularly galling to us in the Church of Science because we didn’t even have empirical evidence of god’s existence, yet we were given commandments about how to worship, commandments that weren’t supported by evidence either. Therefore, we concluded we were wasting four of our commandment slots. Having ten commandments is a woefully short text to set forth rules for life; having only six is ridiculous.”
“We also had difficulties because of the number of exceptions in our version and the caveats regarding vague language,” added the Archbishop. “Our denominations decided to work jointly on making additional changes. After much discussion, we developed a totally new list of ten rules for life that we’ve come to call the Real Ten Commandments. The space is still much too short but being able to choose our own topics at least allowed us to make a better run at them.”
“These ‘Real Ten Commandments,’ do you have a copy of them with you?” asked Rick.
“I do,” said the Reverend.
“Me, too,” said the Archbishop as he handed Rick another sheet of paper. “They are identical.”
“This is the best expression of our current principles on how to live, at least within our two denominations. Although these rules are certainly subject to criticism, they’re clearly better than the Biblical text.”
“That’s right. It’s not that these rules are wonderful. Rather, it’s that the traditional text of the Ten Commandments was so deficient that we couldn’t help but improve it.”
The Real Ten Commandments
1. Life is finite in time and will almost certainly be shorter than you wish. Use your time carefully. Do not waste it. Spend your time in productive purposes, like improving society or developing yourself personally. Remember that recreation is a worthy use of time although it should not become the main purpose of your life. It should re-create your body and spirit for productive labor.
2. Until there is more evidence of god and what he or she wants from us, do not worship. In our present state of knowledge, it is a waste of time. Notwithstanding the above, you may come together on a weekly or other basis to discuss issues traditionally addressed by theology.
3. Pursue pleasure, but your pursuit should go beyond increasing your individual pleasure to increasing pleasure for others in your society. Because you benefitted, from your birth forward, from social wealth built by previous generations, you have an obligation to increase social wealth for future generations. The legacy of social wealth is almost always more lasting than that of individual wealth; therefore, do not become absorbed in individualistic hedonism.
4. Do not spend your life in the endless pursuit of stuff. Although stuff is enjoyable and worth working for within limits, do not let endless acquisition dominate your life. The phrase “you can’t take it with you” is true.
5. Accept that we cannot know with certainty whether our efforts on Earth will have lasting impact. At the same time, you should reject nihilism. A life spent promoting social good is surely preferable to a life lived aimlessly or working for bad.
6. Generally, prefer kindness over cruelty, pleasure over pain, health over sickness, life over death, civility over boorishness, and humaneness over inhumaneness. However, there are exceptions to each of these general guides. For example, those who have committed crimes against humanity have, by their behavior, forfeited their claim to humane treatment.
7. Mere belief is an inadequate basis for making decisions about life because beliefs are merely made up. They are not grounded in, and constrained by, facts. Therefore, look to empirical evidence to support your decisions about life. Not only look to facts, but look widely for facts, including looking for them in different cultures, across different time periods, and in scientific experiments. It is easier to steal ideas from others than to come up with them on your own. In evaluating data and analyses, be critical and change your views to accommodate new findings. This is a mark of a good mind.
8. Do not misjudge other societies or cultures because you do not understand them. However, once you have done adequate research, do not shy from making fact-based judgments about other ways of living. The press of problems requires us to make judgments about others, sometimes within short time frames. Make them as best you can, based on careful analysis of available evidence. Your judgments about other societies or cultures will allow you to make fact-based decisions about your own ways of living.
9. Almost without exception, do not commit crimes or violate civil laws but, beyond this, conduct your life in a moral way. This is a higher standard than merely being law abiding.
10. In utilizing this list of commandments, do not regard them or any other brief list of guides to life as comprehensive. A comprehensive list would have to be much longer than this. In addition, decisions about life should be made on a case-by-case basis, some of which will involve new, unforeseen situations in the future. No list from the past can address all of the situations that you will confront going forward.
“I’ll give this some thought,” said Rick, folding the paper carefully before placing it between the sheets of his field journal. “I appreciate your sharing it with me.”
“We’re pleased to do so. If these are better than what we were given in the Bible, we’ll consider ourselves successful.”
“They certainly seem to be on first reading,” said Rick. “At the least, you’ve made better use of the space, reducing the discussion of worship to the reference in—let me see—yes, the second commandment.”
“It’s more of a statement relieving the obligation to worship than about how to worship,” observed the Reverend.
“Right you are,” said Rick.
“Let us know your thoughts about the ‘Real Ten Commandments’ after you have had time to absorb them,” said the Archbishop. “We’re always trying to improve them...but you already know that by reading commandment number seven.”
“I’ll be glad to do so,” replied Rick. “Before we go, have you rewritten any other portions of the Bible?”
“Take a look at this,” said the Archbishop. “I brought it because I thought you might ask that question.”
He handed Rick a sheet with printing on it.
The Reverend glanced at the heading, adding, “It was a joint effort by both of our denominations.”
The Real Beatitudes
“You changed the ‘blessed’ language, I see,” observed Rick.
“Yes, it implies that there’s someone—god—who blesses certain behavior,” said the Reverend. “As you know, we think there’s no evidence of any divine being who blesses us.”
“I see. You used two versions for two of the Beatitudes.”
“Yes,” said the Archbishop. “The first version of those two is the King James while the second is the New King James. We responded to both versions.”
“As you see, we came to very different conclusions than are in the traditional Beatitudes,” commented the Reverend.
“The opposite behavior in most cases,” added the Archbishop.
“It’s a significant change,” said Rick. “I’ll give it a close reading. Thank you for sharing it with me.”
They chatted for a few more minutes, shook hands, and ended the meeting.
We’ve had cloning in the South for years. It’s called cousins.
Robin Williams
CHAPTER 27
The Soumamo
In the dining room, Rick enjoyed a lunch of a red jungle fowl cooked in savory, unknown spices. After eating, he walked through the medical facility where he noticed that they had coronary testing equipment. Rick expressed his surprise to a health worker walking down the corridor. She responded graciously, adding that the emphasis in the rain forest had to be on preventing heart issues rather than treating problems once they occurred. There were several nutritional and exercise pamphlets nearby that had precautions against fatty foods and a sedentary life style. Rick tucked the pamphlets in his pocket and went to his room to complete his notes on the Euromamo political system. As he finished, John stopped by his room.
“I hope you’re free for a brief word, Rick. I saw no disc outside.”
“I’m free, John. What’s on your mind?”
“We have an upcoming meeting with another of our neighbors, the Soumamo. Would you like to attend?” he asked.
“Sure. Will you host them here or do we travel to their village?”
“We’ll go to a Soumamo village for this meeting. We leave day after tomorrow, first thing in the morning, as usual.”
“Good. I’ll be there,” said Rick. “Before you go, so I’m clear in my mind, you get fiber for your cloth-making from the Soumamo, right?”
“Yes. The Soumamo are our closest trading partner for cloth fiber…and many other things. They were the first friends we made after we settled in this valley, so the ties between us go back many years. We visit with each other regularly.”
“Weren’t they fearful of the spirits in your valley?”
“Not as much as some other groups because they believed deeply in their own spirits and discounted the power of all other spirits, including those reputed to be here. They thought those who believed in the valley spirits were mere cultists.”
“So you were able to establish a relationship with them?”
“Yes, and beyond that, we intermarried with them more than with any other group, as you’ll see during our visit.”
“What are they like?”
“Fun loving…but get ready to listen“,” the Leader said, smiling. “They talk a lot.”
“How far is it?”
“The Soumamo live to the South of us about eight miles up the Bel Ami. We’ll travel along a path beside the river that’s not very steep and is well maintained. Their villages are on a flat plain between a large lake to the east and mountains to the west, as you will see. Prepare to be gone three days.”
“Is there anything else I need to know?”
“The food will be tasty,” John said, smiling.
“That’s good to know, I look forward to the trip.”
On the morning of the departure, the Euromamo visiting party gathered in front of the entertainment center, as they had for previous trips.
“This is a lot more people than went to the Hedomamo,” Rick mentioned to John, who was standing nearby. “There must be a hundred people here.”
“More of us visit the Soumamo than any other group,” John commented. “We enjoy seeing one another, perhaps because they’re kin and in-laws to many of us.”
The walk to the Soumamo area was as pleasant as a walk through the rain forest could be. The trail was reasonably level, well maintained, and almost entirely clear of vegetation.
“Throughout the year, Euromamo will gather to visit a Soumamo village, not waiting for our larger formal visits,” John commented, “and we tend to the trail each time we use it. The Soumamo do the same when they visit us.”
As they proceeded, young men in front quickly cut away sprigs that had the temerity to intrude where we would walk. The only barriers were some slow-moving streams that we crossed on well-built, split-log bridges. On one bridge, the young men walking ahead had to chase away a caiman that was soaking up the sun. Toward the end of their walk, they exited the Valley of Bad Spirits onto the plain where the Soumamo lived.
“That ridge to the right is the one you mentioned?” Rick asked, pointing to it.
“Yes, outlined against the skyline.”
“It seems pretty high.”
“Yes. For many years, it was a major barrier to traveling in that direction but eventually we found passes that allowed us to get through it. Out to the left is the Great Lake, but it’s too far away to see from here.”
“It’s a long way away, then,” Rick mumbled.
“It’s a hike to get there, to be sure, but sometime we get dried fish from groups there if our catch from our rivers runs low.”
During the latter part of the hike, Rick noticed many plants of the same variety alongside the trail. They were bushy and about chest high.
“What are these plants?” he asked John, pointing to one nearby.
“Fiber plants,” John answered.
“So that’s how they look growing,” said Rick. “I learned about the fibers at the cloth-making facility in the village but had never seen a plant.”
“Fibers are highly prized throughout the region because they make excellent cloth and other useful products, even better than cotton.”
“I thought fibers were only used for clothing. What are some other things you can make from it?” Rick asked.
“We use it to make bandages for wound care and to make ropes. We also use it to make a very heavy woven material for the roofs of some of our shelters. We coat the heavy cloth with tar and support it with fiber plant ropes. It lasts well.”
“There are certainly a lot of fiber plants around here.”
“The Soumamo plant these with digging sticks. Fortunately, their soil is well suited for them and fiber has become the major product they trade with other groups. The plants have been central to their economy and culture for over two centuries. We’ve been the main purchasers of their fibers.”
“So other groups buy some of it?”
“Other groups have had interest in Soumamo fiber over the years, an interest that increased after we showed them more uses for it. The expanded demand prompted the Soumamo to grow even more fiber plants. Wait until we get close to their villages and you’ll see how far they’ve taken fiber plant cultivation.”
Toward the end of the day, they approached a Soumamo village, where Rick was amazed to see large cleared plots of land planted with fiber plants.
“Yes, they use mules. Years ago, we imported a few horses and donkeys to pull the loads on our bamboo rail system, that is, until we improved the system and could use llamas. After that, we gave our horses and donkeys to the Soumamo and they bred mules to use as draft animals.”
“Apart from the mules, did they develop the rest of their fiber plant cultivation on their own?”
“The Soumamo did most of it, but we played a role by making more efficient cultivating tools to trade with them. They are rightfully proud of their current production levels, and we’re proud of the part our tools play in that.”
“How did this cooperation develop?” asked Rick.
“Early on, the Soumamo told our forebears about fiber plants. Before that, our forebears knew nothing of them, but they soon understood that finished fiber plant products could be a major part of their trade with neighboring groups. However, their problem was that they couldn’t grow the plants because the soil in our valley is not well suited for them. As a result, they encouraged the Soumamo to grow the fiber for trade. Once obtained, our forebears made the fiber into finished products, some of which they sold back to the Soumamo. It was mutually beneficial.”
“Today, you trade fiber cloth products with others as well, don’t you?” asked Rick.
“Yes, many others. It was the first major product that our forebears developed for trade. It helped them establish many economic ties with neighboring groups. With this said, the Soumamo have remained our most important trading partner over the years.”
As they approached the Soumamo village, Rick saw only about six small huts. That was all that comprised the village.
“Quite a small village, isn’t it, John? Will we outnumber them greatly at the meeting?”
“Not as much as you may think. Their settlements are tiny, but many of them dot the countryside. Other Soumamo will be coming in from nearby settlements so our numbers will be about equal. Settling that way may seem unusual, but it lets them stay close to their fiber plant fields, so they like it.”
The Blue Disc Page 32
