From: mam@jcnpc.cmhnet.org (Mike A. McAngus)
Subject: Re: Rush Courts the FAAAR Right
Organization: Homebrew Virtual Reality Labs
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 18:25:26 GMT

 In article <BzIwzv.Msz@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu> graham@venus.iucf.indiana.edu 
(JIM GRAHAM) writes:
:
:   Not to get into a religious debate, but people could interpret the ten
:   commandments as good, common sense, irrespective of any religious
:   affiliation, couldn't they?

No.
I've been waiting for someone to repeat Rush's assertion that there is nothing 
about the Ten Commandments to which a person could object and therefore the 
Decalogue should be posted within public schools.  This is probably the closest 
that I will get.
(From Exodus 20:2-17)

1.  I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that
place of Slavery.  You shall not have other gods besides me.

This commandment is specific to the Judeo/Christian/Islamic god and denies the 
beliefs of Hindus, Wiccans, Bhuddists, Taoists, Atheists, Deists, Animists, 
etc. etc. etc.  If this commandment was posted in a tax supported school, then 
this would be a violation of the First Amendment.

2.  You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the 
sky above or on the earth below or in the watters beneath the earth; you shall 
not bow down before them or worship them.  For I, the Lord, your God, am a 
jealous God, inflicting punishment for their fathers' wickedness on the 
children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but 
bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation on the children of those who 
love me and keep my commandments.

This long-winded commandment should make Catholics uncomfortable because they 
do pay homage to their statues and their depictions of the stations of the 
cross.
Also, how can you instill a reverence for justice when god (the alleged source 
of justice) punishes children for the crimes of their great-grandfathers?

3.  You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.  For the Lord 
will not leave unpunished him who takes his name in vain.

Which god? Oh yeah, the J/C/I god.  So saying "Krshna on a Crutch" should be 
acceptable.  Or are the words "your God" important here?  Can people take the 
names of other gods, but not their own god, in vain?

4.  Remember to keep holy the sabbath day.  Six days you may labor and do all 
your work, but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord, your God.  No work
may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter, or your male or female
slave, or your beast, or by the alien who lives with you.  In six days the Lord
made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the
seventh day he rested.  That is why the Lord has blessed the sabbath day and
made it holy.

This would also violate the First Amendment if it was posted on a school wall
because it specifies the J/C/I creation story as opposed to the Hindu creation
story, the many creation stories contained in Native American religions,
Polynesian creation stories, etc. etc. etc.

5.  Honor your father and your mother, that you may have a long life in the 
land which the Lord, your God is giving you.

Should children honor abusive parents?  What does the act of honoring entail?
This seems to be a nice sentiment in the abstract, but there may be many 
problems in specific cases.

6.  You shall not kill.

Vegetarianism any one?

7.  You shall not commit adultery.

As far as I can tell, the bible only defines adultery as sexual relations 
between a married person and another person who is not hir spouse.  This is the
first commandment with which I agree.  If two people have agreed to the 
contract of marriage then they should abide by that contract or get a divorce.

8.  You shall not steal.

When no other option exists, stealing to feed a starving person is acceptable.
If the food is available, but the necessary money is not, then the person is 
justified in trying to preserve hir life.

9.  You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

The second commandment with which I agree.  I don't consider this as a 
prohibition against all lying, but only a prohibition against lying about 
another person.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor's house.  You shall not covet your 
neighbor's wife, nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass, nor anything 
else that belongs to him.

Hey girls, coveting that hunk next door is ok, because this prohibition applies
only to men coveting wives.  Greed and envy are social problems, but a 
prohibition against thought is absurd.  It's like saying "You shall not view 
people of <group> with fear, apprehension, derision or other negative
stereotype".  It is difficult to change our responses to the external world,
but we can certainly refrain from acting on those responses.

I have been taught all my life that blacks and whites are people deserving of 
respect, yet I know that I am more apprehensive of groups of black males than I
am of groups of males of any other race (yes I'm white).  It is very difficult 
to align subconcious responses with the concious beliefs.
-- 
Mike McAngus 			 | As if I needed Another time consuming hobby.
(mam@jcnpc.cmhnet.org)		 | 
The Truth is still the Truth	 | This Post exploits illiterates.
Even if you choose to ignore it. | 
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