NEWSFLASH! Vatican releases “10 Commandments for Motorists”

taken during the Visita Iglesia de Vespa ’07 (photo courtesy of Minggoy)

As reported in the news, the Vatican issued a 36-page document called “Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road” (or what the media dubbed as the “Ten Commandments for Motorists”) last Tuesday.

The “unusual” document warned about the effects of road rage since, it says, driving brings out “primitive” behavior in motorists, including “impoliteness, rude gestures, cursing, blasphemy, loss of sense of responsibility or deliberate infringement of the highway code.”

But the document didn’t just focus on four-wheel drivers. It particularly cited other traffic problems such as “the reckless use of motorbikes and motorcycles.” *ouch!*

A Catholic nation like the Philippines could use these ‘guidelines’ to make driving on our roads feel more like a ‘walk in the park’ than an every-man-for-himself battleground. There’s nothing in the new commandments that a motorist doesn’t know yet, but it sure helps to be reminded of these simple rules and the ‘holy’ association doesn’t hurt either.

Moses weren’t there during the release and the documents were not carved in stones either, but it did come from the church hierarchy and that is ‘good’ enough (pun intended). Here they are…

“The Ten Commandments for Motorists”

1. You shall not kill.

2. The road shall be for you as a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.

3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.

4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.

5. Cars shall not be an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.

6. Charitably convince the young and the not-so-young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.

7. Support the families of accident victims.

8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.

9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.

10. Feel responsible toward others.

Amen.

-o-
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J0HNRANA

john[dot]rana[at]gmail[dot]com