But are they really? Let's see just how much our laws are influenced by the 10 Commandments. We'll rate each of them Yes/No according to whether they are covered by laws or not.
.
01.) Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
Well, that one doesn't apply, due to the aforementioned Freedom of Religion. Worship whoever and whatever you want. Just don't erect a monument to He/She/It on the courthouse lawn. Verdict : No.
.
02.) Thou shalt not make idols.
You can make all the idols you want. Verdict : No.
.
03.) Thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain.
Although it's generally bad strategy to cuss out the judge and jury, there's no law against it. Verdict : No.
.
04.) Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
Well, courthouses are closed on Sundays. But that's because they can't find anyone willing to give up their weekends to serve on a jury. Heck, most of us prefer going to work over jury duty. Verdict : No.
.
05.) Honor thy father and mother.
Curiously, Arizona just settled a case where an (at the time) 8-year-old boy ambushed and blew away his dad and the dad's companion as they returned home from work. The boy was allowed to plead guilty to one count of negligent homicide (shooting the companion), and all charges involving him killing his Dad were dropped. The boy will serve no time in juvenile, but must submit to periodic psychological testing. Verdict : No.
.
06.) Thou shalt not kill.
Murder still generally gets you thrown in jail, provided of course, you are more than eight years old. Verdict : Yes.
.
07.) Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Having an affair will usually (and rightfully) get you divorced, but you won't be hauled off to jail unless you're a polygamist or the "other" was underage. Or both. Verdict : No.
.
08.) Thou shalt not steal.
Yeah, there are laws against theft. Unless you're a banker, a CEO, or contribute to the Republican party. Verdict : Yes.
.
09.) Thou shalt not bear false witness.
There's no law against lying, except in court. That's called perjury. And it has Barry Bonds' and Roger Clemens' shriveled up testicles sweating up a storm. Verdict : No.
.
10.) Thou shalt not covet.
Covet away. That's what most advertising is all about. Verdict : No.
So there you have it. The grand influence the Ten Commandments have on our legal system is telling us not to steal and not to murder. Come to think of it, all other religions and philosophies tell us that also. So maybe Summum has a point. Or maybe we should admit the hypocrisy about those 10 Commandments monuments and pull them down.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
The Ten Commandments
The US Supreme Court achieved a rarity this past week - a unaminous decision. The case involved a religious group called Summum, who are sufficiently wacko to merit a separate posting here in the near future. They sued the city of Pleasant Grove City (Utah) to be allowed to put up their own monument next to one showing the Ten Commandments. You can read MSNBC's account of the case here.
.
The gist of Summum's claim was that the 10 Commandments monument was a religious promotion, and since we are guaranteed religious freedom, they had the right to erect an equivalent monument at the courthouse, listing their "Seven Aphorisms". SCOTUS disagreed, claiming the 10 Commandments are the bedrock of the US Judicial system.
But are they really? Let's see just how much our laws are influenced by the 10 Commandments. We'll rate each of them Yes/No according to whether they are covered by laws or not.
.
01.) Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
Well, that one doesn't apply, due to the aforementioned Freedom of Religion. Worship whoever and whatever you want. Just don't erect a monument to He/She/It on the courthouse lawn. Verdict : No.
.
02.) Thou shalt not make idols.
You can make all the idols you want. Verdict : No.
.
03.) Thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain.
Although it's generally bad strategy to cuss out the judge and jury, there's no law against it. Verdict : No.
.
04.) Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
Well, courthouses are closed on Sundays. But that's because they can't find anyone willing to give up their weekends to serve on a jury. Heck, most of us prefer going to work over jury duty. Verdict : No.
.
05.) Honor thy father and mother.
Curiously, Arizona just settled a case where an (at the time) 8-year-old boy ambushed and blew away his dad and the dad's companion as they returned home from work. The boy was allowed to plead guilty to one count of negligent homicide (shooting the companion), and all charges involving him killing his Dad were dropped. The boy will serve no time in juvenile, but must submit to periodic psychological testing. Verdict : No.
.
06.) Thou shalt not kill.
Murder still generally gets you thrown in jail, provided of course, you are more than eight years old. Verdict : Yes.
.
07.) Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Having an affair will usually (and rightfully) get you divorced, but you won't be hauled off to jail unless you're a polygamist or the "other" was underage. Or both. Verdict : No.
.
08.) Thou shalt not steal.
Yeah, there are laws against theft. Unless you're a banker, a CEO, or contribute to the Republican party. Verdict : Yes.
.
09.) Thou shalt not bear false witness.
There's no law against lying, except in court. That's called perjury. And it has Barry Bonds' and Roger Clemens' shriveled up testicles sweating up a storm. Verdict : No.
.
10.) Thou shalt not covet.
Covet away. That's what most advertising is all about. Verdict : No.
So there you have it. The grand influence the Ten Commandments have on our legal system is telling us not to steal and not to murder. Come to think of it, all other religions and philosophies tell us that also. So maybe Summum has a point. Or maybe we should admit the hypocrisy about those 10 Commandments monuments and pull them down.
But are they really? Let's see just how much our laws are influenced by the 10 Commandments. We'll rate each of them Yes/No according to whether they are covered by laws or not.
.
01.) Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
Well, that one doesn't apply, due to the aforementioned Freedom of Religion. Worship whoever and whatever you want. Just don't erect a monument to He/She/It on the courthouse lawn. Verdict : No.
.
02.) Thou shalt not make idols.
You can make all the idols you want. Verdict : No.
.
03.) Thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain.
Although it's generally bad strategy to cuss out the judge and jury, there's no law against it. Verdict : No.
.
04.) Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
Well, courthouses are closed on Sundays. But that's because they can't find anyone willing to give up their weekends to serve on a jury. Heck, most of us prefer going to work over jury duty. Verdict : No.
.
05.) Honor thy father and mother.
Curiously, Arizona just settled a case where an (at the time) 8-year-old boy ambushed and blew away his dad and the dad's companion as they returned home from work. The boy was allowed to plead guilty to one count of negligent homicide (shooting the companion), and all charges involving him killing his Dad were dropped. The boy will serve no time in juvenile, but must submit to periodic psychological testing. Verdict : No.
.
06.) Thou shalt not kill.
Murder still generally gets you thrown in jail, provided of course, you are more than eight years old. Verdict : Yes.
.
07.) Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Having an affair will usually (and rightfully) get you divorced, but you won't be hauled off to jail unless you're a polygamist or the "other" was underage. Or both. Verdict : No.
.
08.) Thou shalt not steal.
Yeah, there are laws against theft. Unless you're a banker, a CEO, or contribute to the Republican party. Verdict : Yes.
.
09.) Thou shalt not bear false witness.
There's no law against lying, except in court. That's called perjury. And it has Barry Bonds' and Roger Clemens' shriveled up testicles sweating up a storm. Verdict : No.
.
10.) Thou shalt not covet.
Covet away. That's what most advertising is all about. Verdict : No.
So there you have it. The grand influence the Ten Commandments have on our legal system is telling us not to steal and not to murder. Come to think of it, all other religions and philosophies tell us that also. So maybe Summum has a point. Or maybe we should admit the hypocrisy about those 10 Commandments monuments and pull them down.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
You know, I don't know if I like that Summum thing, but I don't like that the ten commandments are in a public park, either. I guess it's Utah. That sounds very Utah. I'm not sure what to think about this case.
We didn't hear that the 8 year old kid wouldn't serve time. All we heard was that he was guilty of killing the companion. I still can't fathom why that kid did what he did. That's really bizarre. Normally if the kid was being abused or driven to the murders, they would have plastered that all over the news in his defense, but they haven't.
Jason (my son) made an interesting point re the 8-year-old. there's no statute of limitations on Murder. the prosecution dropped the charges, but can re-instate them anytime. even 10 years from now, when the kid could be then tried as an adult.
i think what doomed Summum with SCOTUS was the alternatives in the case - either the court had to allow Summum (and every other religious body) the right to erect competing monuments, or else they had to side with the city and say the monument wasn't religious. the real solution - tearing down the 10 Commandments monument - was not an option in the lawsuit.
Post a Comment