It is amazing that we continue to have attempts by people to erect monuments to a sectarian religion on public ground.
The Daily Republican, in Marion Illinois reports:
If a Marion man’s efforts succeed, the downtown square may soon have a monument to the community’s tradition of faith.Ken Kessler is modeling a monument of the Ten Commandments after a similar monument at the Mt. Vernon, Ind., courthouse.“These aren’t just Christian laws,” he said. “Moses brought these down from the mountain. They aren’t something we came up with.”The Ten Commandments are a foundation of two religious faiths, Judaism and Christianity. In the Supreme Court of the United States courtroom, two huge oak doors have the Ten Commandments engraved on the lower portion of each door….
I have a question? WHICH Ten commandments should be used? (strikethrough highlights obvious differences)
1And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 0But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s. (Exodus 20:1-17)
OR
I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Thou shalt have none other gods before me. Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day. Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Neither shalt thou commit adultery. Neither shalt thou steal. Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour. Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s. (Deuteronomy 5:6-21)
And besides…..most Christians do NOT really believe the ten commandments are for today, or any other day.
All I have to do is watch how people live to know the reality of what they say.
No other God’s before me has been retranslated into “making God #1.” God number #2 is the NFL, who really is God #1 on Super Bowl Sunday.
Taking the Lord’s name in vain? Many Christians think that means saying God damn or Gawd dangit if you are a Fundamentalist Baptist. A truer definition of taking God’s name in vain is when people say one thing with their lips and do another.
Remember the Sabbath? What’s that? You mean going to Church from 10-11 on Sunday Morning? I gotta work on Sunday. So, I am sure the Lord understands. (ever read the Bible? He definitely does NOT understand. God kills Sabbath breakers)
Honor your father and mother? When is the last time you’ve been to see them? Oh they are in the nursing home? What’s wrong with them? Oh nothing, they are just old…..
Do not kill (in the Hebrew that means murder I am sure you will tell me) How about war? Civilians? People convicted of murder and executed based on circumstantial evidence? (a clear violation of the Bible’s rules of evidence) How about abortion? STOP! ABORTION IS MURDER!! Does your wife take birth control pills?
Do not commit adultery? Come on……really? Have you ever looked at a woman and lusted after her? Ever? Yes? PERVERT. And Jesus said you are an adulterer in your heart.
Do not steal? Do we even need to talk about this one?
Do not bear false witness? That’d lying BTW. Done any of that? You mean you always, without exception, tell the truth? Not even a little , white lie? Come on, confess. YES? LIAR! LIAR! LIAR!
Do not covet. You are an American, right?
Well, at least you don’t have any graven images. Wait what’s that around your neck? A cross?
Ok, I am trying to be a bit snarky and humorous at the same time.
Here’s the bottom line.
Many Christians want monuments of the Ten Commandments (really only part of them, and usually the Exodus version) on public property to remind all of us of a law that their religion says is so important that none of them keep it.
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You’re right. They don’t believe in the 10 C. Otherwise, Ted Haggard would have no followers.
They want to post the TC everywhere because,
(1)They want to score points with the Almighty.
(2) They figure that the devil will flee because the word of god is there.
I agree that people think it’s a way to appease God so he doesn’t destroy us or something. Honor him cause we’re scared not to. But how impressed is God gonna be with our monuments when we don’t take the commandments all that seriously in real life?
I think the commandments were written by men and directed toward a particular group of people and represent their priorities for that time. Some of them are good ideas, but people know this stuff instinctively anyway or were taught- that it’s a good thing when you don’t steal, don’t cheat on your spouse, treat your parents well out of respect and gratitude, etc.-
It makes no sense today to put up a rule about the sabbath.
The prohibition on graven images is one I simply don’t understand viz-a-viz the institution of the Christian Church. So many of them are opulent examples of graven images. Wouldn’t that 90 foot tall statue of Jesus — the one recently struck down by lightening — qualify?
It just gets me that evangelicals want to place the 10 Cs everywhere and yet, at the same time, they’re constantly trying to wring more money out of their followers to build larger and grander graven images. Talk about inherent contradictions!!!
These cases are nothing anymore but a way to bait the media and get right-wingers stirred up. The sound clips you get out of them are amusing though… funny how the majority of those so ready to stand up for the Big 10 have never read the Bible (or the Constitution, for that matter) entirely and are generally ignorant about them.
Angela,
I think you are right. These types of things are more often about rallying the troops than they are convictions and truth. Rarely do people think through what they believe when they say “the ten commandments are for today.”
Bruce