Mao & The Ten Commandments

Ten Commandments

I am trying to understand why the Christian religion is dominate in some countries and not others.

I like the ten commandments and I try to follow them. I found this list on BibleGateway:

1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

I'm not sure about number two. I take it to mean it's okay to make images, but it's not okay to worship those images. Pictures Ferraris and Playboy Bunnies will undoubtedly doom me. We aren't going to talk about number three, but the rest of them are very fine.

Anyway, for a while now I've been kind of suspicious of Asia. Why is that place such a mess? They have plenty of smart people, but they seem to be constantly mired in squabbles. Then I read that story about what's wrong with India, and I go wondering - is that what's wrong with all of Asia?

And then I remember Mao's actions during WW2, when he took his army west and let the Nationalists fight it out with Japanese, and then when the Japanese were driven out, Mao swooped in and drove out the Nationalists. Wikipedia has pages on this.

Now I'm wondering if the Nationalists were a similar to the Indians as described in the linked story, and Mao was sick of their shit and decided to do something about it, and WW2 gave him the opportunity.

Now Mao was no Christian, but if you are dealing with a wretched hive of corruption and villainy, maybe a Christian approach is not what you need. At least not modern, Western one.