One of his favorite targets of ridicule is religion. His bit on the Ten Commandments is a special treat. The Ten Commandments are touted as a precious gift to world jurisprudence by the great tradition of monotheism. What a crock!
The Ten Commandments symbolize why monotheism is particularly pernicious. Just look at the text (even though there is no single universally accepted text). The first four commandments clearly demonstrate that the composer (it seems there were several scribes involved over several centuries for the texts in question) was eager to keep the flock within the tribe. They have absolutely no relevance to jurisprudence but serve as the basis for either dominating those who disagree or forcing them to convert allegiance. While these four commandments have no ethical or moral value whatsoever, they encourage the immoral domination of others.
The remaining commandments are either common sense or silly and in no way unique to monotheism. They are not a precious gift to humanity, nor are they incisive at all, let alone enough to be the basis of thoughtful jurisprudence. For that we need to look to polytheists of ancient Greece or India (yes you can find pernicious stuff among their practices as well, but they never claimed exceptionalism).
The fifth of the Ten Commandments is about honoring your parents. That sounds nice, doesn't it? But they don't really mean it. Just consider what Jesus says:
Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace on earth! No, rather a sword. lf you love your father, mother, sister, brother, more than me, you are not worthy of being mine.
Okay, what if I love my parents more than you, Jesus? What if I love my mother, who has taken care of me when I was in need, poured all her love into me, sacrificed her life for me, more than I could love you, whom I have never seen and whose existence I have no way of knowing for sure? Well, tough luck! Here is what Jesus wants you to do:
Brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child; and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. Matthew 10:21
Jesus's answer is you need to put your mother to death if she won't accept Jesus as the savior! Way to go, prince of peace!! This is what happens with monotheism. Peace and love only if you accept to be part of the group. Otherwise, even if it's your mother, cut her throat.
Now, to the sixth commandment: do not commit murder. The first thing their god did after giving this commandment is to command Moses and his lieutenant Joshua to kill and plunder the inhabitants of the land of present day Palestine. So much for this command.
The seventh says do not commit adultery. This is perfectly good advice but hardly unique to monotheism. Furthermore, progressive societies long ago abandoned classifying adultery as a crime, let alone a cardinal sin worthy of eternal damnation.
The eighth (do not steal) and ninth (do not bear false witness) are similar to the seventh: prudent advice but not unique to monotheism.
Now cometh the tenth. What a doozie! Don't lust after your neighbor's house, wife, servant, ox, donkey, etc. What if you are a woman? Yeah, women are just property, so they can't lust after anything.
Well, all religions are full of the good, the bad, and the ugly. But it takes a monotheistic religion to claim their bad and ugly are really good when interpreted correctly and must be accepted by everyone--The Best for All Humanity!!! The Greatest Gift Ever!!!
The great monotheism brought darkness that plunged Europe into ignorance, death, and destruction. It took five to six hundred years for the darkness to lift. It happened when the ideas of a polytheistic society, ancient Greece, were rediscovered in the age of the Renaissance.
For religion in general to lose its sting, the idea of monotheism must be destroyed first.
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