I want to give a big shout out to Louisiana for taking the lead in mandating the placement of the Ten Commandments in all public schools.
And to Rep Dodie Horton for introducing the bill that will "...allow a moral code to be placed back in the classrooms" that “holds us accountable to live by".
And to Governor Landry... “If you want to respect the rule of law, you gotta start from the original law given which was Moses. … He got his commandments from God".
And to advocate Gene Mills... “The Ten Commandments provide the foundation for modern-day law in America".
Thank you all for so clearly articulating both the issue and the solution!
In light of the GOP support this move has received (with other red states soon to follow), and the level of fervor expressed, we have to presume that the next step for Louisiana officials would be to incorporate these commandments into their civil laws, and enforce them properly.
Let’s take a look at the “Ten” (Exod.20:1-17 version) and see how this might be accomplished. We can also consult the Bible to determine what punishments would be warranted for violations. After all, who better than God Himself to guide us in these matters?
1 - “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me”.
Since this specifically refers to Yahweh, the Hebrew deity, we’ll need to do a little tinkering with the First Amendment to enforce this. Like getting rid of that entire 'freedom of religion' concept, encapsulated in the establishment clause.
Punishment for offenders? We can ascertain what God would want in Deut.13:6-10 and 17:2-6. Punishment would have to be death.
2 - “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven..., in earth..., or in water: 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;”
This one’s a little more complicated. It appears that all art, sculpture, even photography may have to cease. A lot of details to be worked out here. I’m not even sure if replicas of the Commandments would be legal. As for the latter part - 'punish the children up to the fourth generation' - records will need to be kept.
We can deduce the punishment from Exod.32:21-28, in which God orders the killing of 3000 of the Israelites for making and worshiping the golden calf.
The penalty for 'hating' God in this manner? Death.
3 - “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain;”
A council - something like a modern “ecclesiastic tribunal”- could be established to determine what actions would be deemed blasphemous or "vain" under this law. Fraudulent faith healing, political religious pandering, and all the self-serving repetitive “Thank the Lord” blather going on in sports these days could be precisely the type of things God had in mind.
Any perceived blasphemy or taking the name of the Lord in vain would be punished by death. See Lev.24:13-16.
4 - “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ..in it thou shalt not do any work,”
Self-explanatory. Do not mow your lawn, mend the fence, do the dishes, or participate in professional sports on the Sabbath. We will need to clarify which day it actually is. The Bible says it’s Saturday, but Christians observe Sunday. We could utilize the “Ecclesiastic Tribunal” to settle this issue before we begin enforcement.
Violations - death. See Exod.31:14-15.
5 - “Honour thy father and thy mother;”
Clear enough.
Punishment for violations - death. See Deut.21:18-21
6 - “Thou shalt not kill.”
This appears to be pretty straightforward, but if we look at the context in which this command was issued, we may want to clarify it somewhat before we write the statute. While under this law Moses, Joshua, and the rest of the “chosen” killed millions of men, women, children, and infants - nearly everyone they came in contact with (Num.31:7-18; Deut.2:34, 3:3-6, 20:13-17; Josh.6:21, 8:25-26, 10:28-41, 11:8-22; 1 Sam.15:3-8). So we must assume that a civil statute might more accurately read - “Thou shalt not kill, unless directed to by a religious or political leader who has spoken with God.”
The penalty for killing (except in the name of God) is, well... death. Lev.24:17
7 - “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
It’s important to understand the totality of what God is referring to here. According to Mark 10:11-12, Jesus clearly states that anyone who divorces and remarries, or marries a divorced person “committeth adultery”.
Since the penalty for this crime in Lev.20:10-12 is death, enforcement will be rather detrimental to millions of families. But what choice have we? We can’t just arbitrarily ignore such explicit biblical teachings.
8 - “Thou shalt not steal.”
Here’s one for the liberals. According to Exod.22:4 restitution double the value of the theft is all that’s required. No imprisonment, banishment, or stoning. At least we’ll be able to free up jail space for those awaiting execution for other violations.
9 - “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”
Simply put - no lying or engaging in deception.
The Bible's a little ambiguous about the punishment for lying or bearing false witness.
In Acts 5:3-10 Ananias and his wife are caught lying about profits from a real estate deal and God kills them both on the spot. See also Psalm 101:5-8 and Deut.19:16-21. So we have those death penalty guidelines to go by.
But there's also a whole slew of lying and deception taking place in there by some of the most sanctimonious leading characters, with no apparent consequence. Maybe that’s why so much lying and deception is taking place among many of today’s most sanctimonious leading characters?
10 - “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, ...wife, ...manservant, ...maidservant, ...ox, ...ass, ...nor anything that is thy neighbours.”
Again, the “Ecclesiastic Tribunal” could determine which thoughts or actions would be declared covetous under this law. Certainly all advertising trying to entice one to buy something or be like someone else will need to be banned. Improved lie detector technology would be extremely valuable in ferreting out lawbreakers.
The Bible doesn't spell out any direct punishment for covetousness, although in Josh.7:21-25, Achan - along with his sons, daughters, oxen, asses, sheep, and tent - were stoned and burned because he had “coveted” some items, and hid them. Also Mk.7:22 lists covetousness with adultery, murder, and blasphemy, so we should be able to come up with an appropriate punishment that would be in line here biblically.
In summary: Once we follow Louisiana's lead and get the Ten Commandment replicas posted throughout the land; integrate them into our civil laws with the corresponding penalties for violations; and rid ourselves - once and for all - of all this 'lawlessness'... we should finally be able to force what’s left of this country to embrace a sound biblical "moral code".
Just as the Founding Fathers envisioned.
After all, isn't that what 'freedom' and 'liberty' are all about?