Remember awhile ago I asked you to think about a list of your personal 10 commandments? For atheists, we certainly aren’t going to look to the bible for our moral guidance, so we have to put in a bit more thought. What rules, morals or virtues do we choose to live by? I decided to call my list principles because it’s a better word than commandments.
Principles: a personal or specific basis of conduct or management
Neece’s Principles
- Treat others as you would like to be treated. (Golden Rule)
- Do not treat others as you would not like to be treated. (Silver Rule)
- Treat others as they want to be treated, in their best interest. (Platinum Rule, modified by Neece)
- Learn from your mistakes, and when possible, learn from the mistakes of others.
- Choose your battles.
- Be pragmatic
- If it harms no one, do what you like. (do no harm) (Wiccan Rede)
- Think critically. Think for yourself. Be skeptical. Question everything.
- Learn as much as you can. Never stop learning.
- Strive to be your best, and to improve yourself whenever possible.
The last 3 might seem a bit wordy or weak. I haven’t really decided. So I thought I’d show you what I have so far and see if you have any ideas for what you’d do to the list. I need to have it in perfect working order by Saturday evening, so please let me know what you think soon.
