The Ten Commandments

High profile court cases have focused on whether the ten commandments can be displayed in public, with no firm results, leaving split decisions that haven't settled the debate. It's time to define the ten commandments as icons of religion that don't belong in the American public square. Many on the right argue that they are the very basis of western law. I will explore why they are wrong.

As a reference for those who follow a particular faith, they are fine. It is when the adherents of that faith demand that they be publicly displayed, or that I give them any particular deference at all, that I take issue. And why? Let's take a look at the commandments themselves.

1."Thou shalt have no other Gods before me." It strikes me that this is the first one. That of all the laws that might come after, God feels that this one is the most important. And what about the Hindu, the Muslim, the Wiccan, the Non-believer, or anyone else who is not "Judeo-Christian?" This law does not apply to them, regardless of how many fundamentalist righties will scream that it does. It is no more important than any law of any other religion. And it doesn't apply at all outside the realm of religion. It has no secular meaning, and therefore no place outside of faith. And again, I think it says something about the vanity of the god when the foremost law is one of his own vanity.

2."Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath,..." This one goes on, including saying "I the Lord your God is a jealous God" again, seems more centered on petty jealousy than any law that should apply to anyone outside the faith. And interestingly enough, it says that we humans should not make "any likeness of anything that is in heaven above" it would seem to be that the only ones following this law are the Muslims, prohibiting the image of Muhammad.

3."Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." Again, seems more like a commandment aimed at keeping the believer on the straight and narrow, not one that should apply to the god-damned rest of us.