krock1dk #fundie

krock1dk #fundie urbandictionary.com

[Kind of funny how the only two of the ten commandments are part of western law]

[Talking about the ACLU. The other points are just as stupid]

9. They have numerous times threatened any small town across America for displaying the Ten Commandments, claiming the fraudulent excuse of “seperation of church and state” when the Commandments are not really religious at all, but merely the basis of Western law.

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old comment by vampirehummingbird

Exodus 20
1And God spake all these words, saying,

2I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

5Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

6And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

7Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

8Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Yeah, that's secular, not religious.

old comment by Papabear

No, they are not the basis of western law. The first four serve only the Bible author's ideas for appeasing God. Only the ban on stealing is clearly part of our modern laws and we didn't need a god to tell us that was a good idea. Depending upon whether one interprets the commandment as "thou shalt not kill" or "thou shalt not murder," it too might be said to be a modern law. Not coveting and not committing adultery seem like good ideas, but they are not part of our modern, western laws. Not to mention that coveting would be impossible to police.

Also, let's remember that though the ideas in the ten commandments are incorporated in many legal structures predating the Bible, the version all these communities which get into trouble are using comes directly from the Bible, a patently religious source.

old comment by Incubusion

1. I am the Lord, your God, you shall have no other Gods before me.
Against the bill of rights to enforce. Freedom of religion.

2. You shall not make yourself an idol.
Against the bill of rights to enforce. Freedom of religion.

3. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God.
Against the bill of rights to enforce. Freedom of speech.

4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
Against the bill of rights to openly enforce. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

5. Honor your mother and your father
Not a crime.

6. You shall not murder.
Legally enforced, but not unique to the ten commandments. Observe the code of Hammurabi, a collection of laws that were being effectively enforced before its creation.

7. You shall not commit adultery
While grounds for divorce in various states (If not all of them), and certainly bad policy, it's neither unique to the ten commandments nor legally can the government enforce it. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Observe the code of Hammurabi, a collection of laws that were being effectively enforced before its creation.

8. You shall not steal.
Legally enforced, but not unique to the ten commandments. Observe the code of Hammurabi, a collection of laws that were being effectively enforced before its creation.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Only a crime in courts when you are sworn to testify.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor's house or wife.
Not only is it not legally enforceable, desire to get something better and even greed is a cornerstone of capitalism that drives people to work harder. If just to 'move up' in the world and enter a new group of peers based on socioeconomic status.

old comment by John

They have numerous times threatened any small town across America for displaying the Ten Commandments, claiming the fraudulent excuse of “seperation of church and state”

No, they don't claim "separation of church and state" - that's just a sound-bite Jefferson came up with to sum up the principle. The Supreme Court has said that to meet the First Amendment:

1. It has to have a secular purpose;
2. It can't have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion;
3. It can't result in an "excessive government entanglement" with religion.

It's called the "Lemon Test". If any one of these 3 principles is violated, it's unconstitutional. Posting the Ten Commandments as a religious display violates both (1) and (2).

Incidentally, considering the way fundamentalists treat it as a symbolic endorsement of their religion, it theoretically violates the Second Commandment against graven images, too!

old comment by Beeblebrox

...the Commandments are not really religious at all...

Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Exodus 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Yeah...obviously these aren't religious in nature. Just to clue you in, apart from the imperatives against idolatry, the Ten Commandments introduced absolutely nothing new in the realm of law. There had been laws against murder, theft, and adultery for thousands of years before Jehovah showed up with his "jealous boyfriend" list.

krock1dk #fundie urbandictionary.com

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