“You Prophets and Priests Made the Gods...”

There are a few marginally progressive thoughts in The Ten Commandments. In this short post, I am stepping beyond the thesis–Hebrews are God’s Chosen People–that supports the movie, and, in the process undermining it. Should be a fun read.

When Ramses II asserts his claim to the throne of Egypt, his father, Ramses, says that only he who can rule Egypt will follow him, and here comes the kicker: “I owe that to my fathers, not to my sons.” This is a slap in the face of the custom of unchecked, untested and automatic inheritance! John Kenneth Galbraith, the author of The Affluent Society, would have applauded, had he been there then!

When the Nile ran red with blood, and Ramses II excoriates his ministers, generals and all and sundry, “You prophets and priests made the gods that you may prey upon the fears of men.”  Well this is seriously progressive, but Ramses II capitulates later when his faith in HIS god (not necessarily invoking the god of his retinue) was shattered. So, was he serious earlier? Yes, in the heat of that moment, he was. But, not later when he faced disaster and insanity crept up on him.

There is something parallel in a mythical story of Hinduism. You could be a nonbeliever all through your life, but with your last breath if you utter Lord Rama’s name, you are all ready to ascend to heaven!

Moses, during the Exodus from Egypt repeatedly asks God to relieve the misery of His people. God obliges, Pillar of Cloud, Pillar of Fire and on such. A subordinate asking his boss to help him (the subordinate). Indeed progressive, as the usual arrow points in the opposite direction.

“What have I left undone?” This was the last query Moses posed to God, in a desperate attempt to get a response. This question has been at the cusp of my lips whenever I had taken the draft of anything I had done to my boss, at his insistence. And, to his discredit, he has always plucked something from the left field bleachers and says, “[T]his, that and that too.”

Where is the progressiveness in this? Admitting that your subordinate has completed whatever you had asked, and it is time to give him credit, unasked. God was taken to task by Moses. This in my book is a progressive thought.

The ultimate progressive statement from Moses, then a skeptic: "If this god is God, he would live on every mountain. He would not be the God of Ishmael or Israel alone, but of all men." Yet, the skeptic becomes a believer. This transformation is regressive, under pressure from Zephorah, who later becomes Moses' wife. 

Again, in my mind, a woman evil doer! I am NOT an MCP. But, per my earlier post, I am! Make what you will of me. 

So, The Ten Commandments is not all bad but to get the good, progressive ideas, one needs to dig deeper; unfortunately, this is precisely what religion forbids you to do.

C’est la vie!

Raghuram Ekambaram