Wednesday, April 13, 2005

The Ten Commandments are NOT Moral Laws

Dear Internet Diary,

Question:

Could we come up with a set of morals to surpass the 'ten' commandments?


That would be easy, but there's a big problem that comes up right away. People think that the Ten Commandments means "thou shalt not kill, lie or steal." That's three, and one of them is not in there. The version of the ten commandments people like to refer to is not the pinnacle of morality. It's not even the only ten commandments in the bible.

The truth is, christians who claim the ten commandments are absolute and written by an absolutely unchanging God, throw out the commandments that are too inconvenient to follow, idealize the ones that shouldn't be followed in the first place, and re-write those that aren't quite right. If their God's morals were not the whims they actually are, Christians would never mic meat and milk. They would not work or drive cars on Saturday, or Sunday, whichever you please. They would not dream of admiring their Neighbor's Precious Moments Nativity Set, nor would they buy their own, as it is an illegal graven image of the baby Jesus. Actually, the pictures and stickers and light-up nightlights wouldn't be the only things that were sinful. Those Thomas Kincade paintings and Praying Hands would be out of the house, too. Rip those drawings off the refrigerator and spank your child, Steve and Debbie.

What of their precious Amway? Satan's company! Amway encourages distributors to put up magazine photos of things they would like to buy: vacations, cars, boats and breasts. It helps motivate the seller into believing they could actually make money.

Before you assume the Ten Commandments as an example of moral laws, try reading a random set of them. Once you get to commandment one, you should get the idea that they are not moral laws.

But thanks for listening, diary.

7 comments:

Aaron Kinney said...

How dare you suggest that the ten commandments arent moral! Thats blasphemy!

As punishment, you shall be put to death as commanded in Leviticus 24:16!

;)

breakerslion said...

This is the ultimate end of using the BIG BOOJUM to back up your social laws and legal authority. Taken as a set of laws for a sect of religious fanatics, it's not bad work. It's simple enough, following that rule of elegance, "If I'd had longer I'd have written you a telegram", and the more basic, "keep it simple, stupid". Moische/Moses could hardly have expected it to last as long as it did, what with golden calfs, and other popular nonsense coming and going like dress lengths and pop stars do today. I suppose that the rules of infractiion called for death by stoning. This was not a very creative bunch all in all. OK, so when are the Christians going to line up all of the abusers? Let's start with all those people who only show up in church on Easter Sunday, and Jerry Falwell, shall we?

Hellbound Alleee said...

What's the Commandment against plagiarism?

breakerslion said...

Um.... Sorry, sincerely. I plead guilty to one count of lazy attribution. "If I'd had longer I'd have written a telegram" - I can't remember who said it and I can't find it. Dorothy Parker, Edward R. Murro, H. L. Menkin, other?

I don't know to whom to attribute this one, either.

"If you steal from one person, that's plagiarism, if you steal from more than one person, that's influences; if you steal from everybody, that's research."

If I have inadvertently quoted you, I apologize and ask you to chalk it up to my being (unconsciously as well as consciously) impressed with your communication skills. I assure you that it will not appear in print anywhere else but here, at least not from my hand. If I have quoted anyone else's copyrighted material, They will receive an apology if they ask.

I first became aware of the "Easter Sunday" Christians by observing them first-hand while filling a pew in the Methodist Church choir from 1966 to 1974. The church's dissatisfaction with these types, and the connection to the 4th commandment was first made to me in 1974 by Charles Whitlock, the Sunday School teacher that taught my confirmation class. I have despised the Rev. Jerry Falwell and all that he (really) stands for, for approximately 23 years, and Billy Graham even longer. My inspiration for writing what I wrote was your site, the previous post, and the joke letter to Dr. Laura which has been circulating in e-mail for years and of which the previous post was reminiscent. I hope this clears up any misunderstandings, and I will choose my words more carefully in the future to avoid going over old ground.

Hellbound Alleee said...

NO NO NO! I didn't mean you! I meant the ten commandments themselves! They are "plagiarized," in a way, from other texts. Sorry for the misconception.

breakerslion said...

Ooops! Sorry for misjudging you. I have had run-ins before with people who were posessive of ideas. I don't imagine for a second that I'm the first person to suggest that Easter Christians and Jerry be made to go to the head of the line for punishment, either singly or collectively.

Hellbound Alleee said...

I don't see a liturgical problem with "Easter Christians." Attending church seemed to be something that pastors and mothers nagged about.

Francois was an "Easter christian." He went 4 times: a couple of easters, a Christmas, and his dad's funeral. Of course, he doesn't think that qualifies as being a Chritian, and I'd have to agree.

But today we have the phenomenon of the "personal relationship" christian. These folks can be as evangelistic as anyone you've ever heard. They say they "hate religion," (like that kid from "Growing Pains" who was in "Left Behind") and the hypocrisy of the church. They say they are living proof of "true" christianity. See atheists? You can still believe and ot have all the crap of the church! You can distance yourself from its corruption! Now you have no excuse!

Of course, this has a few logical problems, and is evidence that believers just don't understand non-believers. My mom sort of did this to me the other day, and I set her straight. She said, "I can't believe what that church did to you and your brother," and the children of friends. "They will never darken the door of a church again."

I told her the real story. "Mom, no, it was you!"

"What?"

"You were the one who taught me never to trust christians."

"Oh! Absolutely!"

She's a Jesus fan, but not much of an evangelist.But the "personal relationship chritsinas" could assume, in that way they do, that she is a perfect christian. Mistrust christians, but love Jesus.