To be perfectly honest, I wasn't going to post in this thread. I feared too much that it would end up in a stream of bickering as well, and I care not to hurt anyone. When reading my comments, please keep this in mind. I mean no disrespect to anyone. I should hope we are all friends here.
If I may, I would like to politely refute what Josh was saying before about the Ten Commandments. If they are taken outside of the boundaries of Abrahamic religion, the lines that he was citing still hold some value. While the commands to keep the Sabbath holy and avoid false idols seem to only have weight in Abrahamic faith, they could be seen as still holding some universal truth. People of any faith should surely wish to keep their own practices holy and avoid unsanctioned superstitious behaviors that could be harmful as defined by their own ethical guidelines.
I seldom mention my own religious convictions on the Internet. That usually just ends up in arguing, which I wish to avoid. However, I thought it might actually be productive once to mention them in this thread. I am a practicing member of the Roman Catholic Church in real life. Personally, I have found both the Ten Commandments and the principles of Wude to be very helpful in leading a moral life.
Having read these sorts of comments online for some time now, I'm shocked and dismayed at many individuals who find the philosophy behind internal Chinese martial arts to be incompatible with Christianity. The great Yang style masters Yang Shou-chung and Fu Zhongwen were both Roman Catholics to the best of my knowledge. I highly doubt they would agree that these philosophies are not compatible with one another.
Going back to the original question in this post, I think the reason for Wude is not because these morals are exclusive, but rather because martial artists have no excuse not to espouse them. Everyone has a great deal of responsibility placed on their shoulders, but those in formal training are required to recognize that. Its been established that teachers are required to ensure that their students do not misuse skills imparted to them.
I do hope that my comments have only been constructive.
Edit: I corrected a typographical error.