All of the 10 commandments are negative and prohibiting when they should be uplifting if anything

Hello! Sorry it took a bit for me to reply! Let's start off with discussing how the U.S views religion. The U.S was based on Judaeo-Christian beliefs. That said, the U.S has its laws based on beliefs of both religions. Both religions have very strong ties to each other, and believe in the very same things to some extent. With that said, the U.S separates Church and state, meaning that you must not belong to those two religions to be in the U.S, but you must believe in those shared beliefs, which come in the shape of our laws (because our laws are shaped on our ethics). That also brings up the topic of American nationality. To be an American nationalist, you just need to believe in the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, obey the laws, and have our morals (stealing and killing bad, work hard and you'll be rewarded, etc...). I'll continue after describing what the Commandments mean: 1) I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not worship Gods before me: This applies for almost all religions, specially Christianity and Judaism. This does not violate the freedom of religion, because if you belong to a religion, you must have a deity (or more) to pray for. If you are atheist which, most people aren't. even the ones who claim to be ones, because they have manners more often than not, and they aren't totally nihilistic, meaning they have morals, and beliefs. That is what religions are for, the collective morals and moral lessons learned through the ages put into a nutshell. God himself is symbolic. God is the collective of all of those manners and morals and wisdom put into one thing, since that one thing is what makes us all in His image. God made us all in His image, and we all have morals as given by God. If you are Muslim, you must not disobey the teachings of the Muslim God. Same goes for all religions. That is what this Commandment stands for. 2) Thou shall not make idols: Goes back to the first one. We cannot pray for what we think God looks like. Just like the desert dwellers prayed for the Golden Calf when Moses wasn't around. This, in essence, lead them to their destruction. Putting a still image to display God is wrong, as time changes, and the still image will not be the solution to every ever-changing problem. 3) Thou shall not take the lord's name in vain: No, this one is not entirely literal. What it means is that you cannot do bad, cannot do harm, and say God was responsible for it, or that he commanded that bad act. Even vulgar language with God, the kind loving maker in it, is bad, because you demean his name. This does not infringe you freedom of speech, since cursing with the word God in the sentence is not a crime, but is frowned upon. Due to the separation of Church and state, you can be a sinner, but I can't do anything about it, because it's your life, and what else can I do but to tell you not to? You can be gay, which I believe is sinning, but hey, it's your life. Best I can do is help you go on the right path, and wish you the best. 4) Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy: Although Sabbath means Saturday, which is the day (and Friday) that Jews use for their rest day, it is Sunday for Christians. What those days are for, are a day for us taking a rest from the hard work we put into our lives and the lives of our communities to strengthen our beliefs and faith. No wonder that in areas where Church/religious attendance goes down, crimes go up. What God means by death in Exodus 31:15 isn't actual death. But the decay and rot of our bodies and souls by refusing the light of the lord into our lives. God gave mankind 2 punishments after they ate from the Tree of Knowledge: 1) Death upon death, meaning that we will rot away once the Lord takes our souls, and 2) We are mortal. We must constantly sacrifice the present for the future. For us to redeem ourselves from both of those capital punishments, we rest at Sabbath, and get one step closer to God, and away from the stress and evils of life. Imagine your faith as a cup of water. Still water becomes dirty and contaminated. Going to your religious day/prayer fills that cup with new clean running water. Keep doing this to yourself on Sabbath, and you yourself will become a better person. 5) Honor thy father and thy mother: Cannot be more literal. Mankind passes the knowledge and love to every generation after them. The love of parents to their child is immense. The parents spoil and teach and love their kids, asking nothing in return other than to do the same for their own children, and so on and so forth. Good parents make good kids, and the cycle continues. Yes, there are bad parents out there, and God help their children get through that rough time in their life, so that they can give their kids a childhood that they themselves never had. The greatest privilege, and perhaps one of the most wanted things in the world, are parents who love their kids. Parents who love and tend to and raise their children right. Parents who keep light in their life, so that they can set their children on the right path to life without having to punish them for doing bad things, because they won't do any major bad things in life if they have the passed wisdom and knowledge of generations (yes, humans are humans, we make mistakes). 6) Thou shall not kill: How much more obvious can it be. Do not kill. But what if I encounter a person with different beliefs than me, I mean, beliefs that killing is OK, and want to kill me? If I see someone approaching me with the intent of killing me, then it's either me or them. We are both children of God, but one of us is on the wrong path, going towards a road that is irredeemable, a road that will kill another person. Then, defend yourself with minimum force, but if shove comes to punch to shoot, then save yourself, and God knows however many more people the idiot would have killed with their bad beliefs. Other than that, why would you kill? Why would you commit a crime? End a life for no reason? 7) Thou shall not commit adultery: Don't be a whore. Having sex before marriage demeans sex, something meant to be only for value. Yes it feels good, but sacrificing the future for the present is how we get killed and destroy meaning in our lives. Would you rather be your spouses 1st, or 7th? The more sexual partners a person has had in their lives before marriage, the higher the chances are for a messy divorce to be due to cheating (and overall divorce). It makes marriage meaningless, sloppy, the sex isn't good, your spouse won't feel yours. Do you think porn is empowering? It demeans both the actors and the viewers. Yes it is fun in the meantime, but tomorrow, how do you, or would they, feel? It is demeaning for both people to have sex before meaning. Again, those aren't laws, but general rules for happiness. 8) Thou shall not steal: No explanation needed. Don't take what isn't yours. You want something, earn it, work for it. 9) Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbour: Why would you do something like that? This makes them lose in life, and your reputation worse, and your manners worse. Your guilt will get the best of you, because mannered people do not ruin other peoples lives for naught. What if it happened to you? 10) Thou shall not covet thy neighbour's goods: Goes back to 8. Since the U.S separates church from state, you do not have to be a Christian or Jew to live here, or follow our laws, you can be anything. You can pray for two pennies and a sock for all I care, you can have Charles Barton as you lord and saviour for all I care. But God killed, you say. God caused the flood because people have become corrupt and disobeyed the structures that have caused us to become a functioning society. Fear controls, yes, like a tyrant controls a slave. But are we slaves? No. God made us out of goodness, and made us good. It is like parental authority. Parents decide to have children. God decided to have children. The Father and the Holy Spirit give birth to the Son, out of love. All are aspects of God, but the reason for creation in the first place remains the same reason that parents decide to have children. To spread the good and love. When your children, rebel, do you mentor them and teach them good from bad? Or do you let them enjoy the current moment in exchange for a corrupt horrible future? That is why parents tutor children. So that they can rid them of the current bad actions, in exchange for a brighter and healthier and better tomorrow. If the corrupt people of Noah time were to continue the rejection of God, and keep in their corrupt ways, the future societies that they would have made would be even worse. In their case, discipline wasn't enough. Instead of them raising children in love, they would have done so in hate. God perhaps went too far, maybe He could have sent them a message, but hey, He works in mysterious ways. U.S laws don't force you to obey our religions to live here. The USA is the most accepting country and civilization there is, but in order for you to live here, obey our laws that were set to keep you safe, and you're fine!