Shorter God: Thou Shalt Not Be An Asshole!

William Blake etching "Ancient of Days"

When I was a wee lad in Catholic grade school I learned the Golden Rule: "Do to others as you would have them do to you."  I also remember hearing: "There but for the grace of God, go I."

Later, as a young, pre-teenager, I remember George Carlin talking about God:  "God was a cool guy. That's what we forget. That's all we ever wanted to be, most of us. We might of said it different ways, but at the end of your prayers, you say, "Please, God. Let me be a cool guy."

Good stuff. Stuff to live by. 

Kevin Drum tackles the "rules for life" and comes up with one all-inclusive rule:  1. Don't Be An Asshole - "That’s it. After 59 years on this planet, I’ve decided that it mostly boils down to this. It’s better than the Golden Rule; it’s easier to keep in mind than an actual list; and it’s relatively undemanding. And yet, it works."

Yeah. Works for me too. Moses would have had a much easier time, instead of lugging those two unwieldy stone tablets down the hill with the Ten Commandments carved into them, it could have been one nice, little, compact stone tablet with one little, old commandment: "Thou Shalt Not Be An Asshole!"  You know, add the exclamation mark, just for a bit of a Godly emphasis.