Thou shalt not ... underestimate impact of the Ten Commandments

It's the difference between historical and ahistorical religions, explains U. philosophy associate professor Deen Chatterjee. Historical religions — Judaism, Christianity, Islam — believe history is imbued with meaning and that morality comes from the top down. Ahistorical religions — Buddhism for example — are more open-ended and experiential, basing morality in part on what is learned from human failure. "They let people decide their own spiritual and moral paths."

The roots of morality in the West come from the ideas of the ancient Greeks, who based their morality on reason alone, not on dogma, says Chatterjee.

But for God-believers, morality comes from God, says the Rev. Bill Heersink, acting president of the Salt Lake Theological Seminary.

"There's something inherently self-centered" about humans, he says. "If we can take advantage, we do." What enforces and enables morality to happen? "There has to be some power above everything, that we're accountable to," he argues, "some source to change our hearts, that really enables us to live like we were created to live."

For Jews and Christians, at least, the Ten Commandments are a place to start.

This is the first in a series of stories on the Ten Commandments. Stories examining each commandment will appear on the next 10 Saturday Religion and Ethics pages.

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