Is Ten Commandments debate important?
Pat Crowley, our KY political reporter, has an interesting thread on his NKY politics blog. Here's what Pat said to launch the discussion:
With the problems facing our state - education funding, job creation, improving math and science scores, fixing the Brent Spence, etc. - should the General Assembly be so worked up over the Ten Commandments? I'd like to see a little more policy and a little less religion out of our lawmakers.
To check it out or join the debate, click here. Here's a story that goes with it.
posted by Dennis Hetzel at 9:37 AM
5 Comments:
at 11:52 AM, June 05, 2007 
Brah Coon said...
-
-
at 11:35 AM, June 10, 2007 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 2:54 PM, June 11, 2007 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 9:36 PM, June 11, 2007 
Anonymous said...
-
-
at 12:09 PM, June 18, 2007 
Anonymous said...
-
-
Post a Comment*Seems to me that most everybody knows the really important commandments by now -- don't kill, steal, lie -- and I would suspect that a person is either inclined to kill, steal, lie or is not so inclined by the time he/she is old enough to break these big 3 commandments. Regardless of what Moses thought about it.
Also, I find it ironic that The State (any State)survives and thrives by regularly breaking these 3 commandments.
I think the idea is: the commandments are to be observed by we plebs only, while the ruling elite are free to ignore them as they see fit.
I would only add this, nothing/nobody on earth has quite the capacity to " covet " like a central government. Individuals can't come close and don't have a military or police force to make their coveteous desires appear to be blessed by God.
AOA says, "The really important Commandments"...and that's the problem (actually one of many).
ALL 10 HAVE EQUAL WEIGHT IN THE EYES OF GOD.
Personally, our government can debate the issue all it wants. I don't follow the government's rules, or I'd kill felons, babies, commit adultery while trying to impeach a President for doing the same thing at the same time I am (wait, that would make my name Newt, and I think I'd have to kill myself for a name like that)...I'd have no problem lying, God knows I'd be an expert at stealing and coveting EVERYTHING on earth, and I'd take the name of the Lord in vain by claiming he was a mere Republican, or else I'd deny Him like a Democrat. I'd ship my mother and father off to some warehouse to die rather than honor them, I'd force people to work on Saturday (yep, THAT'S the Sabbath, not Sunday...that's the Lord's day. They are two different things) and I'd put my own needs in front of God's requirements. I'd refuse to pay my taxes and then complain about the infrastructure. Hmm...pretty much like this country today. I see no God in America, only in some individual people.
So, who cares if any division of this government debates God or His laws? It's all lip service. They threw Him out of the country and now they wonder why it's all going to hell. Duh!
As for me and my house, we will follow the Lord, not the USA or any other nation, ruler, flag, principality or false god. We are citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, and those are the rules we follow. They actually work, so it's all good.
Holy wars start when people claim that what they believe is superior to someone else's beliefs. Where's the commandment that says "Thou shalt not judge"? What about the story about Jesus saying you could only throw stones at a sinner if you hadn't sinned yourself? And what about his many stories about hypocrites?
People have been trying to solve problems using religion for thousands of years and IT DOES NOT WORK. And God is not the same thing as religion. Plenty of people are spiritual and believe in God without a religion telling them what to think. They obey the natural, logical rules that they were born knowing. They don't need a script/book/list to follow in order to do the right thing. People aren't born "sinners". (That's what religion tells you so that you'll attend their church to be "absolved", and while you're there, put money into the basket, please.)
Don't you love these people who think they speak for God? Specifically:
"ALL 10 (COMMANDMENTS) HAVE EQUAL WEIGHT IN THE EYES OF GOD."
Actually, this issue is spelled out quite clearly in Matthew 22:34-38.
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment."
This is the problem with religion. The people who speak out the loudest about it usually don't even know what they're talking about. Or maybe anonymous @ 11:35 AM thinks that he's more in touch with God's word than Jesus was.
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment."
We seem unable to do this, as we prove by our actions. We can't even speak the name of Jesus Christ without starting some big brew-ha! Tragic.
You forgot the other half of what Jesus said. He also said that the second one was to "Love thy neighbor as thyself." This we seem to be unable to do in modern society.
Christ did not contradict the Father when he said this. What he did was summarize all 10 Commandments into a simple statement that any moron can understand. All 10 Commandments are based in this foundational statement; Christ simply and beautifully said it.
Why can't you comprehend that? I'm not more in touch than Jesus; I'm in touch WITH Jesus!
You'll also note that Jesus was being tested by the leaders of the day. (The parallels to modern government are terrifying.) They were deliberately trying to trip Him up, much as you just tried it. And Christ didn't sway, not one inch. He stayed true to the Father even when He was killed for it. And look at His reward for obedience, how awesome is that! So do you think I'm afraid of you, or anyone else on this Earth, who tries to belittle my faith? HA!
This is not a legal debate. It's personal. If more people remembered and LIVED Christ's words in Matthew, we wouldn't have half the issues we do as a community. And THAT'S my bottom line on it. So, in that spirit, I pray for love and God's blessings for you, so that you and everyone else (including me) can see it, know it is the work of God and praise our Heavenly Father.
* Our online blogs currently are hosted and operated by a third party, namely, Blogger.com. You are now leaving the Cincinnati.Com website and will be linked to Blogger.com's registration page. The Blogger.com site and its associated services are not controlled by Cincinnati.Com and different terms of use and privacy policy will apply to your use of the Blogger.com site and services.
By proceeding and/or registering with Blogger.com you agree and understand that Cincinnati.Com is not responsible for the Blogger.com site you are about to access or for any service you may use while on the Blogger.com site. << Home