10 commandments and courthouses
Dec. 15th, 2004 01:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drydemOkay, so I've been thinking about the issue of why exactly I don't want the 10 commandments on courthouse lawns. Because I knew that I was opposed to this, but I hadn't thought out exactly why it was a problem. The problem lies in the text of the commandments. Let's examine Exodus 20:1-17, the Biblical source for the 10 commandments.
"Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
You shll not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work--you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore, the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.
Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.(New Oxford Annotated Bible, 95-96)"
To sum up.
1. No gods before God
2. No idols.
3. No misusing God's name.
4. No work on Saturday...or is it Sunday? regardless, keep the Sabbath Holy.
5. Honor your parents.
6. No murder.
7. No adultery.
8. No stealing.
9. No lying about your neighbor under oath.
10. No envying your neighbor.
Let's look at these for a second. How many of these are actually laws in the U.S. Well, 6,8 and 9 are all specifically forbidden under law. 1-4 are all specifically religious prohibitions, defining a specific form of worship. 5,7 and 10 are, in a modern sense, primarily extra-legal prescriptions, with only specific legal manifestations(divorce and minor legal rights). So, in the end, only three out of the 10 have anything to do with the law or government. More than that are specifically religiously oriented, pointing towards the Judeo-Christian tradition to the exclusion of other religions, something that is specifically forbidden in the CONSTITUTION. It's not that liberals are trying to promote murder stealing or perjury, it's that it is illegal under the founding document of the country to promote specific religions as state-sponsored, which erecting statues on government lawns counts as. Of course, nobody knows the fucking bible anymore, especially most liberals, so they can't point out the problems that they oppose. It's really a point of frustration for me, the ignorance of people in terms of what they really oppose.
Wow, that verged into bitterness really fast.
"Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
You shll not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work--you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore, the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.
Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.(New Oxford Annotated Bible, 95-96)"
To sum up.
1. No gods before God
2. No idols.
3. No misusing God's name.
4. No work on Saturday...or is it Sunday? regardless, keep the Sabbath Holy.
5. Honor your parents.
6. No murder.
7. No adultery.
8. No stealing.
9. No lying about your neighbor under oath.
10. No envying your neighbor.
Let's look at these for a second. How many of these are actually laws in the U.S. Well, 6,8 and 9 are all specifically forbidden under law. 1-4 are all specifically religious prohibitions, defining a specific form of worship. 5,7 and 10 are, in a modern sense, primarily extra-legal prescriptions, with only specific legal manifestations(divorce and minor legal rights). So, in the end, only three out of the 10 have anything to do with the law or government. More than that are specifically religiously oriented, pointing towards the Judeo-Christian tradition to the exclusion of other religions, something that is specifically forbidden in the CONSTITUTION. It's not that liberals are trying to promote murder stealing or perjury, it's that it is illegal under the founding document of the country to promote specific religions as state-sponsored, which erecting statues on government lawns counts as. Of course, nobody knows the fucking bible anymore, especially most liberals, so they can't point out the problems that they oppose. It's really a point of frustration for me, the ignorance of people in terms of what they really oppose.
Wow, that verged into bitterness really fast.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
I'm with you on this...
Date: 2004-12-15 01:00 pm (UTC)"Of course, nobody knows the fucking bible anymore, especially most liberals, so they can't point out the problems that they oppose. It's really a point of frustration for me, the ignorance of people in terms of what they really oppose."
I've considered that you might be sarcastically recounting a right-wing argument, but assuming that you're not, I don't think that this is really that well-thought out. Its actually fairly ironic to me that you're ranting that "nobody knows the fucking bible anymore" in a post that seems to address the religious imperialism of the right wing and their attempts to bring it into the political sphere. In my opinion, you're suggesting that the same people (non-Christians) who's freedom of religion you're trying to defend subject themselves to a religious text. Now, forgive me if I'm insulting the "good book", but what is it but a collection of fables and such that attempt to provide convincing arguments for belief in, respect for, and fear of, the Christian god?
I suppose the obvious counter to my previous would be that knowledge of the Christian holy text is necessary to debate issues of theology and politics with those who would seek to force the two together. Naturally, such knowledge was pertinent in forming the argument in your post. That you accumulated such knowledge from your scholastic endeavors and upbringing obviously helped you to make your argument. Really, I agree that it might be helpful for the left to have more biblical knowledge with which to oppose there religious erections on state property (don't you love that phrase? Its "sacrilicious"!).
Personally, though, I'd prefer to avoid any further religious studies than I've already been subjected to; the acrid taste of being "taught" to believe still lingers in my mouth. Resentment, I think, stands in the way of me gaining the knowledge to make such arguments, but some might call that "my loss." That you're not saddled with such makes you an asset to the cause. I thought I had an argument against your frustration, but I guess I don't. I guess that makes me the bitter one. ;)
Of course, this whole notion is predicated on the fact the right wing is interested in listening to reason and imperial fact. The distance the Bushites have put between themselves and the scientific community is proof enough for me that they're not. The only doctors medical or academic that they're interested in listening to are the spin-doctors that pass for pundits. Perhaps I sound the loon to suggest the argument and communication isn't going to win any ground against these fascists, but my bitter little grain of a heart fears that its so, so true.
cheers,
Austin
a seminarian's rant re: erecting the ten commandments
Date: 2004-12-15 04:23 pm (UTC)the president of my seminary gave a sermon earlier this semester that described what happened earlier this year when the alabama supreme court sent folks in to remove the monument/icon of the ten commandments. apparently some dude threw his arms around the tablets, saying "this is my God! you can't take away my God!"
ironic, considering that the tablets are (i hope) not a god at all, but instructions... shouldn't we be invoking some kind of aniconic principle against his ass?
furthermore... (and rant is continuing, thanks, BEn) the first commandment starts "i am the LORD your God who brought you out of egypt, out of the house of slavery. you shall have no other gods before me."
america is not canaan. the white privileged people believing that we are the israelites and that the folks who were here were canaanites was an excuse for wholesale destruction and genocide of native peoples, per YHWH's instructions in joshua. (now that's a chilling book.) the folks who want to erect monuments to the ten commandments in courthouses tend to be white fundamentalist evangelical christians, who are the americans (IMHO) with the LEAST claim to the exodus story as one of liberation. (i've also written about how parallel texts of the ancient near east make exodus an unusable text for liberation theologies anyway.) these folks should spend their days atoning for their distortion or interpretation of the bible to keep african-americans and native americans down.
/rant. i've been trying to figure out how to make use of this document all semester.