|
1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain.
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet.
EXODUS 34:12-27
1. Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
2. For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
3. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
4. The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib.
5. All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.
6. But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck.
7. Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest.
8. And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest.
9. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.
10. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
How can those two lists be so utterly different? When old butter fingers Moses dropped the first set of tablets, the second set was supposed to be a duplicate, remember? So who decided which were to be the Ten Commandments?! And how did they decide? Did someone take a vote? Toss a coin? Arm wrestle for their favorites? To repeat, there are no Ten Commandments.
(For the sake of space, from this point on I will summarize the commandments; but I will always provide the exact chapter and verse so you can see I haven't changed anything. It's all there.)
Likewise, why are the multitudinous other commandments not talked about? Here's a random sampling: Sons that are gluttons and drunkards shall be stoned to death. (Deut 21:21) Non-virginal brides shall be stoned to death. (Deut 22:21) Homosexuals shall surely be put to death. (Lev 20:13) Beat your children with rods. (Prov 23:14) Women must keep their mouths shut and learn only from their husbands. (I Cor 14:34,35)
Surely no one would suggest that these laws represent the epitome of morality! Yet the Religious Right Representatives in the House, such as Bob Barr and Robert Aderholt, consider the Exodus 20 list (heavily edited to make the nice round number ten) to be that very epitome. But look at what is not mentioned. Nowhere are there any words forbidding: sexual or physical abuse of a child; rape; slavery; torture; kidnapping; or spousal abuse. But almost as bad is that there is no mention of love and compassion for others. What the heck kind of Grand Moral Code would not mention those things?! A very bad one. That's what kind.
The claim that the Ten Commandments are not promoting a certain religion, but just encouraging morality, is so outrageously disingenuous as to be difficult to respond to. The first four of the ten "official" commandments address nothing but rules for worshipping the Hebrew God. The remaining six are uninspired, insipid, incomplete, childish nothings. Almost anyone could come up with a better list.
However, if Mr. Bob Barr and the rest of his ilk really think the Bible, all of it, is the inspired word of God, then they should be destroying altars, breaking images, cutting down groves, keeping the feast of unleavened bread, offering firstborn animals as sacrifices, and observing the feast of weeks. Oh, and they should be taking great pains not to seethe a kid in its mother's milk. (I never could make heads or tails out of that one.) But these are clear cut commands, not suggestions. So, Mr. Barr, et al., you'd better head for the nearest Muslim mosque with a battering ram, and fire up those barbecue pits.
Such selective editing and culling of the biblical commandments (actually it's slash-and-burn editing and culling since it eliminates 99% of the Bible's commandments) is the result of the embarrassingly primitive nature of the excluded commandments. Sacrificing animals to gods is Stone Age stuff. But Neanderthal mentality notwithstanding, if fundamentalists are going to insist on their right to force their primitive commandments into public places, then any of the rest of us should be able to post our primitive suggestions for moral behavior, such as the Code of Hammurabi, or the biblical parts about seething kids in milk. Or maybe even some of the commandments of my own personal deity, Bob the Raingod:
1. Thou shalt not hog the remote control.
2. Remember Ground Hog Day and keep it holy.
3. Honor thy Web Master that thy site may flourish.
4. Thou shalt not pee in thy neighbor's pool.
5. Thou shalt not stick a fork into a toaster.
6. Thou shalt not break wind in mixed company; but if thou failest, and doth indeed pass gas, thou shalt not suddenly stare at thy spouse with an accusing look on thy face.
7. Thou shalt not pick all the cashews out of the mixed nuts.
8. Thou shalt not chew gum in class unless you bring enough for everyone.
9. Husbands, thou shalt not complain if thy wives complaineth that thou wilt not ask for directions.
10. Thou shalt not balance thy checkbook while standing at an ATM.
Would you hand this in if freepers were in your class?
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
