I was reading a news article earlier about a courthouse in Oklahoma that has been ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court to remove an eight foot tall display of the Ten Commandments from its lobby. Naturally there are lots of Christians pissed off at the decision. Part of me is pleased to see the decision go this way but on the other hand I feel a little disappointed. I think that the more people are exposed to the Bible the quicker they'll turn away from it.
Seriously, have you even read the Ten Commandments?
They're probably the most important part of the Old Testament since they're the only part which God actually wrote himself. Remember that? Moses climbs Mount Sinai and comes back with God's tablets. These ten rules are literally handed down to mankind by the creator of the universe. And what do they say?
1) Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Is it just me or does this seem like a massive concession? To me this says "there are other gods, but you should ignore them and worship me". Can it be read any other way? How can believers gloss over this? And to put this at #1 really is to betray the man-made characteristics of this racket. "First and foremost, don't follow any other religion. Listen to us."
2) Thou shalt not make graven images. Really? Number 2? If you were to write a list of rules that a billion people were going to take seriously would you really put this second? Surely there are more important messages to convey like "do not abuse children", "do not commit rape", "do not commit genocide", "do not take slaves". These aren't mentioned though because it would mean reducing the Old Testament to Genesis and ending it there.
3) Don't use the Lord's name in vain. What this means is that you shouldn't use the word "God" unless you're actually referring to him. What relevance this has to anybody is beyond me, but it has extended so far that there are networks in America which forbid the use of the words "god damn" or "Jesus Christ" as expletives.
4) Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. This seems like a pretty innocent commandment at first. Nobody would seriously be punished for breaking this rule, would they? If you read on though somebody is later stoned to death for collecting wood in a forest. You just try finding a Christian who would be happier to bleed out than let a surgeon suture him on a Sunday.
5) Honour your mother and father. In other words, obey. Unconditionally. Surrender your will and don't question authority. It's worth mentioning at this point that given the importance of this Decalogue to Christians, especially considering all of the (alleged) moral guidance within, the first half of the list offers no advice for how to live a generous, wholesome or even good life.
6) Thou shalt not kill. Finally, something we all agree on. The ironic thing is that despite the claims that we get our morals from the Bible, the wandering Jews of the desert couldn't have made it all the way to Mount Sinai if they didn't already know not to kill one another. Unless they killed each other very sporadically until Moses came back and said "I've just gotten word that you need to cut that shit out". Plausible but incredibly insulting.
7) Thou shalt not commit adultery. This is almost a good rule but it could be improved upon if it were made simpler and reduced to "always be faithful". But whatever, it's something we can agree on at least. Saying that though, this isn't a law. We don't jail people for cheating on their spouses. They don't even get community service. So far the only commandment we enforce as law is the "do not kill" regulation. And even that has exceptions.
8) Do not steal. Another law. Stealing is bad and should be discouraged. I still think we could lump the this together with the previous one though: "always be honest and faithful".
9) Do not bear false witness. Again this is a way of stretching "always be honest" out to three rules. You'd think that instead of this meaningless filler something important could be written; "thou shalt not kidnap children", for example.
10) Thou shalt not covet your neighbour's wife, nor her ass, nor her ox, nor her house, or slave etc. This is the final commandment and in my opinion it's the worst. This is the very definition of thought crime. This doesn't forbid you from stealing a man's possessions it forbids you from even thinking about it. To say that you can be convicted of crimes while you sleep—we know you're guilty, we know you at least considered it—is the very definition of totalitarianism and it's what George Orwell meant when he said that all dictatorships were theocratic.
That these rules are seriously considered as moral guidelines and meaningful laws to be obeyed and respected is ludicrous. Unfortunately in this country we can't reject our Church of England roots; the Queen is the head of the church and we have to pay for that. At least in America they have a document saying that their government must be separate from their churches and that's why the Supreme Court has ruled against the monument being inside the courthouse. Although, in our defence...
