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BIG TEN....


- The Big Ten
by S.K. Eleton
(Theocracy Watch...)



Around the country, towns and cities rush to post the Ten Commandments in City Halls and courthouses, in violation of the Constitutional prohibition against establishment of religion. Many of the individuals responsible for the posting of these monuments often inform us, disingenuously, that this is not supporting religion, it is in fact a secular exercise to remind Americans of the basis for our laws and our government. These apologetics, unfortunately, prove all too convincing for many across the political spectrum from far right to far left. It appears that 21st century Americans are nearly united in their conviction that the Biblical commandments are the basis for not only our laws, but for the laws of nearly every civilized society throughout human history. So, I decided that it was about time to investigate that possibility. If this is true, then perhaps we in the fight for separation of church and state are making a big mistake. Therefore, I feel it is appropriate to review the commandments one by one (Exodus 20). This way, we can determine their influence on our constitution, and also can see if they are, like so many are claiming, something other than religious in nature, and speaking universally to all humans, Christian or not.

The first of the commandments, obviously very important since God decided to place it at the head of his list, states "Thou shalt have no other gods before me". While there are countries throughout human history that have enshrined this commandment into their system of laws (England comes to mind, with the centuries of officially recognizing the Church of England), the United States is not one of those countries. In fact, the First Amendment is in direct opposition to this commandment. Under the United States system, we are free to have other gods before JHWH, as many gods as we please, or none at all. If we choose, we are free to worship Rama, Isis, Quetzalcoatl, Buddha, or even Zeus if we so please. So, we leave the first commandment off the monument.

The second commandment tells us "Thou shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.". Hmm, might be time to move aside all those statues of Mary, those crucifixes, those nativity scenes - not to mention all those pictures of dogs playing poker, since those could be, with some stretch, said to be a likeness of something that is in the earth beneath. Nothing in the constitution forbids the making of graven images, and in fact, we are actually quite image-happy in this statue-laden country. So, strike the second commandment.

In the third commandment, we learn "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain". Hmmm, I think I hear this one being violated regularly, especially by the Cornhusker fans across the street when they are having a particularly bad game. Not only is not taking the name of the lord in vain not enshrined in our constitution, once again I think we can find it coming in direct opposition with the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech. There is absolutely no freedom of speech in this commandment. OK, so we'll strike the third off the monument, and press on.

Commandment number four tells us to "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy". Problem is, you can't get the religions who honor this one to agree on which day that is, exactly. The Jews, who were the ones who actually spoke to God personally, and were given the commandments in the first person, are convinced it is Saturday. The Christians have decided that it is actually Sunday, and choose to remember it on that day. While this has from time to time been written into local law codes, and is honored to some extent by the current configuration of the work week, it is not part of our national body of laws, and has not really added too much moral guidance to how we established our system of government. In addition, I know very few modern Christians who would accept willingly the enforcement of this commandment as it appears in the Bible. In the Bible, it is an absolute. You did not pick up sticks, you did not take a drive in the country, you did not go to Wal-Mart, and you did not play golf on the Sabbath. Any of those activities, should you perform them on the wrong day of the week, were punishable by death - death by stoning, which comes directly into conflict with our laws against cruel and unusual punishment. So, we'll strike commandment four off our monument, and move on.

The fifth commandment advises us to "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land". This is good advice, no doubt, though there are many mothers and fathers that do not deserve our honor, and even when they do, I am unsure of how it will make our days long upon the land. Good advice or not, it has added nothing of any real substance to our code of laws or our constitution. It is absolutely impossible to enforce a law such as this without getting into the realm of Big Brother. So, while it might be good advice, provided your parents are not abusive, neglectful, or sell you to the child pornographer down the street, it is hardly enshrined in the laws of our land. It is also not particularly original to Christianity, since attachment to our parents is part of our biological nature that has helped to keep us safe and secure until we reach adulthood. I think we can safely strike commandment five as part of our civic monument.

The sixth commandment says "Thou shalt not kill". At last, some good advice that could actually be considered part of our laws. Perhaps we could enshrine this in the courthouses and city halls throughout the land, though it might lead some juries to a little bit of confusion when they were being asked to hand down the death penalty in a capital crime. I have no real problem with this commandment; it is good moral guidance, it is a good law to put on the books, and it is necessary to include this in a strong, functional society. The main problem with putting it out as one of the Ten Commandments is that it is not original to Christianity. With or without God, with lots of gods or no gods, human societies universally include an injunction against killing. Long before JHWH, long before Jesus, this was recognized as a necessary component to maintaining civil society. OK, we'll put this one on the monument, although it is hardly original and hardly necessary for God to give as an injunction since we were already practicing that around the world, anyway.

In the seventh commandment, we are told "Thou shalt not commit adultery". Most of us, especially those who are married and wish our spouses to be faithful, feel this commandment does give some good moral guidance which we truly hope our spouses are following. It is not, however, part of the constitution of our country, and while being part of the law code of some states, is rarely enforced. On those occasions where this does become law, it usually is used selectively to torment political enemies, and so to the extent that it has provided guidance for our lawmakers, has mostly caused more mischief than good. While being in general good advice, I think we can leave this off our monument.

The next commandment we are given is "Thou shalt not steal". This makes good advice, good law, and absolutely necessary to a civil society, but again, there is nothing uniquely Christian about it, because it exists as a basic policy in nearly every society, even without giant stone monuments. I'll go ahead and grant this one on the monument for now.

Next we hear "Thou shalt not bear false witness" (in other words, it isn't right to lie). Lying can be a very bad thing (unless your mother-in-law asks you how she looks in her new hot pink leotard, and you want to keep peace in the family). It is actually against the law to bear false witness, otherwise perjury, and you can serve some real time for violating that law. For the most part, this exists as part of civil society anywhere that people gather to live in large groups. We can leave this on the monument, I'm good with that, as long as we aren't required to follow it every minute of the day (like when our mother-in-law shows up for Thanksgiving in that leotard).

The tenth and final commandment tells us "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, wife, manservant, maidservant, ox, ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's". I have so many problems with this commandment, I don't know where to start. First of all, when God mentions thy neighbor's manservant and maidservant, he is referring to ownership of people - slaves. While it is a sad state of affairs that slavery actually was written into the Constitution at the founding of our nation, it is also true that we now recognize that to have been an immoral and improper system; it took a very bloody war to dispose of the practice of slavery, and I think we should not be putting up monuments in our government buildings that implicitly appear to condone slavery. Also, I have a problem with the concept that my neighbor owns his wife (the commandment plainly refers to property), or even that he owns his wife's ass. I do know that I have never once caught myself coveting my neighbor's ass, but I can't be sure that will always be the case, so just in case I should find that happening, I'd prefer not to find myself sent up the river for a thought crime. Besides, should this ever be passed into law, the capitalist society upon which we base our whole economy would come to a screeching halt. Our entire society is based upon coveting, and I can't imagine that ANY member of our Congress is preparing to pass a law against it. While there may perhaps be a lot more coveting than is actually good for us in society, I think the case can be made that coveting in moderation is actually a very positive act, since it is often what spurs us to action and leads us to attempt to make the world a little better. I think we need to leave this one off the monument, as well, since no case can be made that it inspired the formation of our society, even if we think it is a good and moral guideline.

So, we're down to three - no killing, no stealing, no lying. Isn't it too bad God didn't think fit to include something about "No raping", "No child abuse", "No incest", or "No slave-owning"? Oh, well, I suppose hindsight is always clearer, even for the omniscient. But I still have a problem with enshrining the Big Three in stone in our courthouses as the final word of God on our society. These commandments weren't the ten commandments that God actually engraved in stone. In fact, the Bible is somewhat confusing on the whole ten commandments thing, and gives a number of different commandments in a number of different places. However, there were ten commandments that God did engrave in stone with his holy finger, and if we are going to be engraving commandments in stone for the moral guidance of our law makers and law enforcers, don't you think we should use the same ten that God engraved in stone? Those must have been pretty important. So, for our enlightenment, I list below (with some rather irreverent commentary), the BIG TEN (Exodus 34).

"Thou shalt worship no other god" (OK, nothing too much different here - but still in violation of the establishment clause). "Thou shalt make thee no molten gods" (so, maybe graven images are OK, as long as we don't melt 'em down). "The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep" (I'm in trouble - I never in my life have kept this. It never occurred to me that it was that important). "Six days shalt thou work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest" (I absolutely refuse to give my boss one more day - I love sleeping in on Saturdays way too much. We'll just have to leave this one off). "Thou shalt observe the feast of weeks" (I'd be more than happy to, if I knew what it was. Feasting for a week sounds rather gluttonous, but I'm up to it, I have no doubt). "Thrice in the year shall all your menchildren appear before the Lord God." (Hmmmm. Send your kids - sons only, of course - to heaven instead of to camp next summer?). "Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven" (I'm pretty sure I've never violated that one). "Neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the Passover be left until the morning" (perhaps it would spoil. OK, no leftovers). "The first of thy firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God" (This will truly be a much more moral country once we let the people in City Hall know they have to give the first tomatoes out of their garden to God). And last, but by all means least, "Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk" (I promise, I'll never do it again! I just couldn't resist the temptation! It was too much for me!)

So, those are the ten commandments that were important enough to set in stone, and I think we should be posting them in all the courthouses throughout the land, just to be sure that we are all following the most moral commands of the most omnipotent of beings. Now, we find, that perhaps killing, lying, stealing, adultery, and swearing, while being bad enough for a mention, are not as bad as boiling a baby goat in its mother's milk.

So, it may surprise you to find that I really do think the ten commandments should be posted in all our courthouses, all our city halls, all our schools around the country. Not the ten commandments listed above (either group), but the ten commandments that truly do form the moral basis for our body of laws- the Bill of Rights. For guidance to our law makers, our law enforcers, our juries, our teachers, and even our parents, I offer up those ten rules that are truly the moral backbone of our system of laws.

1. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, or to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

2. A well regulated militia being necessary for the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

3. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

4. The right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

5. No person shall be held to answer for any capital or otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject to the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.

6. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

7. In suits at common law, where the value of the controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States than according to the rules of the common law.

8. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

9. The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

10. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.