The Ten Commandments. They are so important to our civilization, they should always be in front of us -- always. In our churches. Our homes. Our bars. Our whorehouses. Even in the Houses of Congress. If we don't know them, how can we be decent Americans?
That's why Congressman Lynn Westmoreland, Georgia Republican, has co-sponsored a bill requiring their display in the US House of Representatives and the US Senate. Like having your History of Western Civ notes on the refrigerator door so you can see them when going for a beer.
Listen (and learn!) as the CongressThing is interviewed by Stephen Colbert (h/t Boingboing ). Colbert interview here.
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Shoot, as a once good Catholic boy I can do it.
1) I am the Lord thy God thou shalt not have strange Georgia congressmen before me.
2) Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, goddamit!
3) Remember to keep holy the Lord's day (but no more than 18 holes).
4) Honor thy father and thy mother (no matter how miserable they have made thy childhood).
5) Thou shalt not kill. (See appendices 'A' through 'R' for exceptions).
6) Thou shalt not commit adultery (unless, of course, Nicole Kidman takes a fancy to you).
7) Thou shalt not give no-bid contracts to Halliburton.
8) Thou shalt not Swiftboat thy neighbor.
9) Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife (but help yourself to thy neighbor's husband, I guess).
10) Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's ass (I thought we covered that in number 9?)
slovenia: LOL. And more accurate than the major religions' versions. It turns out there are some slight differences in the three major superstitions about the list. Jews keep a prohibittion against graven images, which obviously Catholics don't. The Koran doesn't mention the Ten Commandments, but seems to incorporate them by reference.
It is interesting that whatever list you use, there are only 6 ethical commandments. Four of them (Thou shall have no other gods before me, etc.) are really just guildlike attempts to monopolize business for a particular religion. The other six are, as you so beautifully point out, are so loaded with exceptions as to be meaningless (Thou shallt not kill, except to bring Freedom and Democracy to the Iraqi people or wreak revenge for an alleged crime, etc.).
Ah, does it warm the heart to see our CongressPersons defending the flag and the Ten Commandments.
And, er, what about the Constitution?
There are two decalogues in the Old Testament. They are not the same. I always want to ask the public officials which one they want to enshrine and why.
Ron: If they can't memorize ten little commandments, how do you expect them to know what's in such a long document. I'll take the Bill of Rights over the Ten Commandments any day. At least the courts (theoretically) enforce the former.
Melanie: Yes. Also Catholics and Protestants differ in their lists, combining some and splitting others. Not to worry. They don't follow them anyway.
What I find amusing (incredulous, too) is that the guests on shows like the Colbert Report and Ali G are 1) either so ignorant of pop culture or 2) so grandiose as to think they can outwit the hosts that they accept invitations to appear. What *are* their PR people thinking?
The religious Rights use of the 10 Commandments are just another attempt at pushing the actual founding documents out the window. Their hatred and disrespect for the Constitution is right out in front now. They want to replace it with "THEIR" version of the Bible ultimately. Substitute the Koran and what do you have but The Taliban. Same thinking different religion.
slovenia's reference to appendices with lists of exceptions for commandment #5 reminded me of this article in the Onion, gutsy and touching and only two weeks after 9/11:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28151
"The Church has realized that anything and everything can be built up on a document of that sort, no matter how contradictory or irreconcilable with it.
The faithful will swallow it whole, so long as logical reasoning is never allowed to be brought to bear on it."
Anyone care to guess the author?
another: Have no idea who said it, although almost anyone with a couple of neurons firing could have said it. I'm guessing it is a well known religious figure of the Reformation. Luther?
Another. Mark Twain? Noam Chomsky? Ann Coulter...nah.
The quote posted by "another" is attributed to Adolf Hitler, as quoted in Hermann Rauschning, The Voice of Destruction (New York: Putnam, 1940), pp. 239--40 - according to an article by Craig Biddle, an "Objectivist" (Ayn Randian) in Capitalism Magazine. http://tinyurl.com/o4kkt
Speaking of "anything and everything", the author of "All and Everything" (G. Gurdjieff) attributed the following aphorism to his father - "If you want to lose your faith, make friends with the priest".
As a former (and future?) member of the Unitarian Universalist Association, I have great respect for the 10 Suggestions. Over the weekend I was having a religious discussion with my fundamentalist Baptist niece (currently a student at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, and yes, I can hardly believe it myself) and she assured me that she, and her family, would certainly be going to Heaven because they believe the Word of God (the Bible) and have a personal relationship with Jesus. On the other hand, those who don't will be going to Hell, from their own personal choice. I asked about the hypothetical case of a 12-year-old Muslim girl dying of a traffic accident in Egypt this week, and at least my niece said she didn't know what would happen to that girl in the afterlife. On the other hand, those who have been offered every opportunity and turned away from it (i.e. me - although she didn't say so in so many words, the conclusion was clear) certainly face an eternity of torment.
I told her what I think - that IF there is an afterlife, I don't think your fate in it will be determined by what you believe, but by how you have lived your earthly life and by what kind of person you have become.
This wasn't the only topic of discussion during our visit, and otherwise it was a pleasant one. She at least tried to save my soul, and I at least tried to open her mind. Who knows what the long term result will be?
Freddy: Thanks for the attribution and the vignette. Note that only six of the 10 Suggestions (is this a Unitarian term?) have any ethical content, so for me they are 6 Suggestions of which only a couple have any real force (no false witness, but then what about white lies? don't kill, but everone has exceptions to that one; steal; covet? what the hell does that mean? etc., etc.). Let's face it. They are close to empty as stated -- but not quite. They are important statements of default values, as in, don't lie, unless . . . or don't kill, unless . . . But then we are arguing over the conditions and back where we started from (almost; defaults are still important statements of priniciple).
Well, they would obey signs on the wall like NO SMOKING or NO SPITTING or TIES MANDATORY. I suppose it is best not to label orders (commandements) but just to give them.
(that was a joke)