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Did you know that the commandments
we call the Ten Commandments are not the real Ten Commandments?
There are more than one version
of the Ten Commandments in the Bible. The following one is the one usually
quoted. However, it is not even call the Tem Commandments. The only version
call the Tem Commandments in the Old Testament is the one in Exodus and
it is much different.
The
Commandments Erroneously Called the Ten Commandments
ONE
(Deut. 5:7) “Thou shalt have none other gods before me.”
(Does that mean that there are other gods?)
TWO
(Deut. 5:8) “Thou shalt not make 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 waters beneath the earth:”
(Can you imagine the world without any images? Some religious sects take
this passage literally and won't allow any pictures at all including having
their pictures taken. Others just think it means images of gods. The Bible
isn't very good on details.)
(Deut. 5:9) “Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto 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,”
(Can you imagine punishing the children,
of the children, of the children of the guilty one? Good thing our courts
don't follow this example or we couldn't build enough prisons to punish
everyone.)
(Deut. 5:10) “And shewing mercy unto thousands of them
that love me and keep my commandments.” (Isn't that nice of
him?)
THREE
(Deut. 5:11) “Thou 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.” (Goodness sakes! This could affect a lot
of damn people.)
FOUR
(Deut. 5:12) “Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as
the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.”
(As I'm sure you all know, the sabbath
is on Saturday and no Christians, except the Seventh Day Eventist follow
this commandment. A few states still have blue laws.)
(Deut. 5:13) “Six days thou shalt labor, and do all thy
work:”
(Deut. 5:14) “But 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, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor
thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy
gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.”
(You can't even have your slaves work on
the Sabbath. Some Jews carry this to extreme. The OT tells the story where
an old man was stoned to death for picking up a stick for firewood. Some
Jews even hire Christians to turn on the heat in their homes.)
(Deut. 5:15) “And remember that thou wast a servant in
the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through
a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded
thee to keep the sabbath day.”
(As you can see, the first four commandments
are all about a god who is so vain that, like a dictator, rules with threats
rather than persuasion.)
FIVE
(Deut. 5:16) “Honor thy father and thy mother, as the
LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and
that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth
thee.”
(What about the fathers who abuse and rape
their children? The OT even says that you should stone to death any child
of yours that sasses you. I wouldn't be alive today if they enforce this
commandment.)
SIX
(Deut. 5:17) “Thou shalt not kill.”
(What about wars, executions, self-defence,
accidents, etc.)
SEVEN
(Deut. 5:18) “Neither shalt thou commit adultery.”
(Whoa! Is this commandment ever broken. And the punishment
for adultery is death. Many Muslims still enforce this. Should a wife
have to stay married to a wife-beater?)
EIGHT
(Deut. 5:19) “Neither shalt thou steal.”
(How about first base?)
NINE
(Deut. 5:20) “Neither shalt thou bear false
witness against thy neighbor.”
(Does that mean that you can lie to your family? And what about "white
lies? )
TEN
(Deut. 5:21) “Neither shalt thou desire thy
neighbor's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbor's house, his field,
or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing
that is thy neighbor's'”
(Our whole economy is based on coveting.
I may not want my neighbor's' slaves or ox, but I might covet his ipod.)
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(Exodus 20:2-17) This version is just slightly different than
the one in Deuteronomy and not enough to quibble over.
The Real Ten
Commandments
(Exodus
34:10) Although this Ten Commandments is the only one
called by that name, it is wildly different, containing commandments about
sacrifices and offerings and ending with the teaching “Thou shalt
not seethe a kid in its mother's milk.” The Jews have carried this
one to an extreme where they have to have separate dishes for milk and
meat. I made a link so you can read it for yourself.
If you are going to put the Tem Commandments
in court houses, shouldn't we use the real ones?
Most religions have a list of do's and
don't's. Little in Christianity is original. Most of it is borrowed from
other religions. Almost everything about Jesus' life is copied from other
gods.
The first four Commandments only deal with religion
leaving only six that have a moral guide.
If you study the Ten Commandments, you will
find that they epitomize the childishness, the vindictiveness, the sexism,
the inflexibility and the inadequacies of the Bible as a book of morals.
Those who would want the Ten Commandments displayed
in courthouses would be better advised to have the Bill of Rights displayed
as our country is a secular nation, not specifically a Christian one.
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