A fundy type, one Jerry Newcombe, has claimed that the shootings in Colorado were proximately caused, according to an excellent article by Justin Vacula , by “…lawsuits filed in attempts to remove displays of religion in the public sphere…” http://www.examiner.com/article/truth-action-ministries-church-state-activism-to-blame-for-colorado-shooting
According to this article, this opinion vender thinks all would be set to rights, and there would be no such horrible attacks on fellow human beings, if only the Ten Commandments could be available in public. Thus, he reasons, the evil happened because American Atheists, and other patriotic groups and individuals, want our government to follow our Constitution.
My, my. All we have to do, according to Brother Newcombe, seems to be to restore the Big Ten.
There is a great pooling of ignorance just now over the so-called “Ten Commandments,” found in the “Holy Bible,” with many holding the incorrect belief that they form the basis of the laws of our nation. This is not true of course because our nation is a democracy and democracy is not mentioned in the Ten Commandments or anywhere else in the Bible.
Unfortunately, many also hold the dangerously incorrect view that humans cannot live a moral life without this set of rules, and a few seem willing to use somewhat uncivilized means to insure that those rules are posted where everyone can see and benefit from them, no matter what the law says.
We know, of course, that all of the problems in our country have come upon us because our government ignored the clear instructions of the deity not to take his name in vain and have plastered it onto our money and improperly used it in the Pledge of Allegiance.
But in the event that those who hold that our earthly salvation hangs on Hanging Ten are correct, to help save the world, I here present the Decalogue in its entirety. Numbering, absent in the Bible, has been supplied in the traditional fashion.
Those who feel they cannot refrain from robbing, murdering, raping, stealing, etc. without this Bronze Age code to guide them can now have their very own copy by copying and printing this thoughtfully offered document, which can be easily enlarged or reduced as desired.
Readers can now “Hang Ten” everywhere they can find wall space to do so.
If everyone has their own copy to read or worship, and every child has one to put on the front of their school binder, we should not need to have further fuss over such debated issues as unlawful postings in schools, court houses, and other public places. There would be no need to do so, because everyone would have their own easily replaceable copy of the deity’s commandments. Some may want to paper their homes with them.
And, if the theory of those who want them displayed everywhere is correct, then crime, immorality, and all nature of bad things should soon disappear.
Readers can print all of the copies they want and distribute them freely.
Here presented as a public service by me are:
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
From the Holy Bible (King James Version of 1611), Exodus 20: 1-17:
And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God,
which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
I. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
II. 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: Thou 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; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
III. 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.
IV. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 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, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For 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.
V. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
VI. Thou shalt not kill.
VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
VIII. Thou shalt not steal
IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy
neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
There you are. Print them out and all will be set to right again.
by Edwin Kagin (the blurb, not the Big Ten)
© 2012 by Edwin Kagin.
I suspect Mr. Holmes, a devout Presbyterian, had been introduced to the Ten Commandments at Sunday School. That he chose to disregard the sixth commandment is not from lack of notification.
Those are NOT the Ten Commandments. The real Ten Commandments start on Exodus 34 verse 10. No, let me do a public service and submit The Real Ten Commandments.
34:10 And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.
34:11 Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
34:12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:
34:13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:
34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
34:15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice;
34:16 And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.
34:17 Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
34:18 The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt
34:19 All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.
34:20 But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb: and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem. And none shall appear before me empty.
34:21 Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.
34:22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.
34:23 Thrice in the year shall all your menchildren appear before the LORD God, the God of Israel.
34:24 For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year.
34:25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.
34:26 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.
34:27 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.
34:28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, The TEN COMMANDMENTS.
Those are the Real Ten Commandments copied verbatim from the bible. Don’t get them wrong again. These are the real ten commandments cause they meet the standards of The Ten Commandments. They were written on stone tablets, delivered to Moses on Mt Sinai, and explicitly called The Ten Commandments. That list you printed up is wrong. No where in Exodus 19, 20, or 21 does the bible refer to the list you wrote as The Ten Commandments. Not only that the list you wrote up doesn’t meet the biblical standards of The Ten Commandments. They were give to Moses on Mt Sinai, nor were they chiseled onto stone tablets, but above all else they were NOT referred to as The Ten Commandments. I hate it when people get it wrong.
Fair enough! .. but why are the ones they keep putting up (which I presume are what Mr. Newcombe is speaking of, since they have been posted and removed in many locations) the ones that were in the post here?
Those Exodus 20 commandments were popularized by the Cecil B. DeMille movie of the same name. That is one reason why they are the most popular.
And of course there is the other reason…they are easier to follow than the Exodus 24 version.
True, I just find it amusing that we’ve got all these people so worked up trying to post their 10 commandments on gov’t buildings and such.. and they’re posting the “wrong” ones.
At least the law so far has come down correctly and said such things should be removed, incorrect 10 or not.
(I’m also amused that every related result under a Google shopping search for “10 commandments” also has the “wrong” ones, go figure. You’d think something like http://www.christianbook.com/ten-commandments-poster/pd/633297?kw=633297&en=froogle&p=1013824 ,one of the top results, could get it right, but no..)
And just so there is no confusion, here are the “New” Commandments!
Thy shall only commit adultery if you are sure you will get away with it
Thou shall not worship Microsoft, for it is a false god.
Thou shall not do to others what Thou does not wish upon Thouself (masochists excepted).
You shall not sue nice but principled people for libel, especially when they have the resources to fight back and so destroy your entire profession.
Thou shalt not pretend you know what CERN does or is going to do.
Thou shalt never admit her bum does indeed look big in that.
Thou shalt not talk about Fight Club.
Thou shalt not buy anyone under the age of ten a mobile phone.
Thou shalt be patient, for the patient shall inherit the cheaper, less buggy product.
Thou shalt not have the Crazy Frog ring tone.
Everybody cool with that?
You are absolutely right, of course, but I would like to add that these real Ten Commandments are also the ones that were placed in the Ark of the Covenant.
Deu 31
24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,
25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,
26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.
There is no mention of the tablets that contained what most Christians commonly believe to be the Ten Commandments that were broken going into the Ark, just the final draft which are the ones stated in Exodus 34.
God, it appears, can change His mind on the basis of Christian morality. Go figure.
Oh, it gets even better cause in Leviticus 26 according to the bible the ten commandments are actually outlining the Slave Trade. What a wonderful god these people worship. Apparently Slavery was SO important god wanted to make sure Moses got it right.
Twenty seven, sorry, damn you typos!
Thank you for the post, Edwin. Who knows what crimes–or sins–you might have prevented by this action.
Also, let me say thanks to you and everyone else in your community who shows love and kindness without needing rules; who, though absent of any central, objective morality choose to take unto themselves a personal devotion to individual and community wellness and betterment.
Amen!
Just this morning I remember coveting my neighbors ass, as she walked to her car, Didn’t read this gem till tonight!!! Won’t make te same mistake tomorrow I hope!
Note: only 3 of them are actually illegal, ie. killing, stealing and slander.
adultry is illegal…sort of…
…and sex with animals…which is what I suppose what he was getting at in commandment X
It DOESN’T COUNT if the posted Commandments are written in English! They must be in the ORIGINAL language or dog will kill another dozen hostages!!!!
It’s hard to carve that other language in stone. Only god can do that.
FWIW a former colleague (of impeccable yeshiva education) proposed the notion that Hebrew reads from right to left because it was easier for a (right-handed) human to carve in stone working in that direction.
Original language? If you want to know about the original language of the bible – the Authorized one – read:
http://truediscipleship.org/Gtopics/general221.htm
Those christians say the funniest things! I’m sorry but there’s a whole lot of them in my family and they just crack me up!!! One of them finally read the bible and you should’ve seen the look on his face…Lmao! He looked at me and said, “Is this stuff true”? I said, “You tell me”! LOl
While I am disgusted with the Fundy’s now running around claiming that this latest shooting was the result of treehuggers, gay people and whatever else is evil of the day,
I think there are some details of this mass shooting that are not quite right.
I don’t think this is just your “average” mental breakdown movie obsessed shooting. Although I think that is what someone wants everyone to believe. There are too many odd details. The shooting was very well planned, had a TON of assualt tactical gear. Something just doesn’t smell right about how this is all being spun.
But, I know most just think that is just wacko “conspiracy theory” stuff and any strangeness is just a coincidence.
Whatever is behind this shooting.. I would definately keep your ears and eyes open for clues.. such as the fact he was a nueroscience student (people are now saying he is “faking” being crazy ” It was first reported that he was an excellent student, NOW it is being reported that he wasn’t so smart and was failing. (???). That he was a GREAT student and then suddunly he dropped out of school after failing a test. Hmmmm What is the truth here guys? Could it be that he was somehow involved and is a patsy and is under mind control drugs? He looked drugged at his hearing. (ON a side note.. the ZOMBIE Florida face eating guy.. it was first reported that he might have been on a bad batch of LSD.. then “Bath Salts” (which is possibly very likely) but in the end he was just on THC (marijuana). I have never ever heard of ANYONE eating someone’s face off by smoking pot.. unless it was PCP laced or something. What I am implying is that the MEDIA will more than likely get this entire story of this shooting WRONG. That they are being fed information and are to stupid to investigate anything or question.).
I would encourage folks to really pay attention to how this story plays out, Pay attention to information as it is FIRST reported (try and save “print screens’ to capture the information or save it on your hard drive).
This is now once again a culture and gun argument. Two sides being pitted against each other. Don’t fall for it. Go after the deeper information that IS out there.
I do find it odd that this shooting happened in AURORA (meaning the DAWN) and was at the DARK KNIGHT RISES. NOw, maybe the shooter understood that .. maybe someone else who planeed this knew this, either way.. it isn’t just some “coincidence”…
anyway.. My thoughts.. Keeping it real.
Keeping it real AND using critical thinking….
Here is a pretty good episode of Conspiracy Theory
I highly recommend it.
(Conspiracy Theory, Season 1, Episode 6)
In this episode, Jesse Ventura and his team learn about the “Manchurian Candidate” program – the Government’s use of ordinary citizens as super soldiers to carry-out Government black ops, like assassinations. Governor Ventura learns how candidates are chosen, subjected to intense psychological stress and trauma, hypnotized, given microchip implants, and given keywords that when activated instruct them to kill on command without any recollection of the events. Jesse and the team interview an author and experts on the subject, and Jesse meets a man who claims to be a member of the Manchurian Candidate program.
Not to beat a dead horse…. BUT
I do want to emphasize that this shooting is an important event that folks need to be paying attention to. Not merely from the standpoint of gun control or if the Ten Commandments would have stopped it. While I understand those are valid conversations in their own right, in all honesty they are being used as convenient distractions AWAY from some very serious issues regarding WHO is behind these shootings and WHY.
The press would make this shooter out to be a “lone gunman”. There is a LOT of spin (just like after 9/11) but I would like to keep pressing that folks NEED to pay attention to the information and truth. Why? Because this is about deeper issues that DO affect our freedom in this country.
Events like these play upon the masses fears and there is a direct reason why they play out, to keep people in FEAR so they continue to make fear based and irrational decisions.
Yet, if anyone here CLAIMS to be truly a SKEPTIC, then you have a responsibility to BE SKEPTICAL of what the MSM (mainstream news) is reporting. ASK THOSE QUESTIONS!.
This event will eventually get buried on page 20 and folks will forget about it except on the 1 year anniversary where we will all bemoan the tragedy and then go on about our lives until the next shooting happens.
I bring to you MORE links that you can go to to find out more and to encourage you to question and not get buried in straw man fallacies and distracting issues.
Unanswered-questions-about-colorado-theater-massacre
http://www.fox19.com/story/19104797/reality-check-unanswered-questions-about-colorado-theater-massacre
The James Holmes Conspiracy (2012 Full Documentary)
James Holmes Family Tied To DARPA And Mind Manipulation Work
July 26, 2012
By Wayne Madsen
File:JamesHolmes.jpgAurora massacre: several links between James Holmes and U.S. government research (Salk Institute involved in neurologically enhancing soldiers’ abilities on battlefield…connections to DARPA)
James Holmes, the 24-year old suspect in the mass shooting of Batman “The Dark Knight Rises” movie goers in Aurora, Colorado that left 12 people dead and 58 injured, has had a number of links to U.S. government-funded research centers. Holmes’s past association with government research projects has prompted police and federal law enforcement officials to order laboratories and schools with which Holmes has had a past association not to talk to the press about Holmes.
Holmes was one of six recipients of a National Institutes of Health Neuroscience Training Grant at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Denver. Holme is a graduate of the University of California at Riverside with a Bachelor of Science degree in neuroscience. Although Holmes dropped out of the PhD neuroscience program at Anschutz in June, police evacuated two buildings at the Anschutz center after the massacre at the Aurora movie theater. Holmes reportedly gave a presentation at the Anschutz campus in May on Micro DNA Biomarkers in a class titled “Biological Basis of Psychiatric and Neurological Disorders.”
http://www.blacklistednews.com/James_Holmes_Family_Tied_To_DARPA_And_Mind_Manipulation_Work/20710/0/0/0/Y/M.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twi
Here is an interesting show…
Derren Brown – The Experiments: The Assassin (Full)
Hahaha. I remember when the first batch of modern English translations of the bible started coming out in the 60s.
Funny as a fit when one of my grandmother’s prune-mouthed sisters rushed out of the house and threw her new bible in the incinerator. For the first time in her life, she’d read the Song of Solomon!
Eeeeeewwwwww!!
My favorite ten commandments thing:
My cousin is a pretty serious creo and has 2 kids. At the time they were 12 and 10. So we were talking about religion and I said, “hey can I borrow your kids for an experiment?” She said OK and I gathered the kids and told them “We’re gonna play a game called ‘ten commandments’ – you guys are gonna make up a list of commandments and pick the best 10!” So I got a pen and paper and kept notes while they rattled off a bunch and then they prioritized them. And they were pretty good – like “thou shalt not kill” and “clean up thy room” and “be kind to animals” and so on. Good stuff! Then they read them to their proud mother who was properly impressed. And I dropped the bomb on her: “Isn’t it amazing that your own kids were able to come up with a better set of moral precepts for living than your god could – and in only 15 minutes?”
Everybody cool with that?
Carlin’s are better.
Have you ever considered writing an ebook or guest authoring on other websites? I have a blog based on the same subjects you discuss and would love to have you share some stories/information. I know my readers would value your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to send me an e mail.