The New Ten Commandments
First shown on Channel 4 in February 2005
Jon Snow plays Moses
When a 2-ton granite monument of the Ten Commandments was recently wheeled out of the judicial building of Montgomery, Alabama, there was uproar. Hundreds of Christian right-wingers from across the US protested outside the building.
The monument had been placed there by Alabama's Chief Justice, Roy Moore, but civil rights activists wanted it removed, arguing it breached the separation between church and state. Speaking to huge cheers from the protestors, Roy Moore said: 'It's not about me. I will pass away. But the laws of God will remain forever.'
Over 3,000 years ago, according to the Bible, Moses came down the mountain armed with two stone tablets. The words carved on them – the Ten Commandments – have been the bedrock of moral behaviour for millions of people around the world. No less than three world religions uphold them: Judaism, Christianity and Islam all believe the Ten Commandments were handed down by God himself and are therefore non-negotiable.
But in Channel 4's The New Ten Commandments, Jon Snow reopens negotiations. He asks if the original commandments are still relevant today. Janet Street-Porter, who appears in the programme alongside many other experts, commentators and celebrities, agrees. 'The commandments can't be very relevant,' she says. 'Otherwise people would repeat them every morning as a kind of mantra to live their lives by.'
Jon Snow may lack the fierce eyes and big white beard of Moses, but in the first of many revelations in this 2-hour programme, he has a definite Moses moment: 'For the first time in 3,500 years, we're going to reveal a new set of commandments, suggested and voted on by you, the British public.'
What follows is a comprehensive trashing of the old order, as seven of the most hallowed commandments are dashed to the ground. The New Ten Commandments which replace them are upbeat, positive, lacking the fire and brimstone of the ancient 'thou shalt nots'. 'Never be violent' and 'Protect the environment' are two rules in the top 20 new commandments which speak directly to today's world.
'It's all change,' says Jon Snow. For those who like their Ten Commandments set in two tons of granite and signed by God, that's not going to be welcome news. But you can't help thinking that Moses might be rather thrilled to have his work argued and voted on several millennia later.
Setting the first commandment in steel
The original 10 Commandments were chiselled by Moses on to tablets of stone, so what about the new ones? Will they be screened on TV only to disappear once viewers hit the off switch?
Although Channel 4 haven't set anything in stone, they have taken a leaf out of Moses' book by commissioning Brit artist Sokari Douglas Camp to create a sculpture of the No 1 commandment, as voted for by the public. Sokari was born in Nigeria, but she grew up in Devon, and makes sculptures in welded steel which explore issues of race and identity in today's Britain.
Sokari, who is a practising Christian, prefers the new commandments to the old ones. 'I think the old commandments are terribly fierce,' she says. 'There are a lot of "do nots". The new ones say "live life to the full", which I think is really wonderful. We're only here once.'
The climax of the New Commandments programme shows Sokari's sculpture being unveiled by Jon Snow in Trafalgar Square – although the clouds do not part and there is no booming voice from above, as happened with Moses.
Producing the sculpture was a challenge. 'I had to make the three figures in three weeks flat, and each of them is 8 feet tall. It's a lot of work for a 5ft 4in woman to do!' says Sokari. 'But I'm very excited that this might be displayed in town squares for people to see.'
