Madalyn Murray O'Hair made pretty much the same argument, which ended up removing God from the classrooms. And as John Adams said, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
Now the Ten Commandments could be SAID to represent Christian (and Judaic) values only, but do they really? Nearly all religions of man codify some version of those 10 laws. Even most governments do so too.
In the absence of ANY moral code in our schools, the most succinct and inclusive turn out to be the Ten Commandments. Understandable by all, even those of lower IQs... plain language... no caveats or exceptions or footnotes...
In addition to the Ten Commandments, I'd like to see the Pledge Of Allegiance also returned to the classroom, along with Civics and an honest American History.
The problem is half of the 10 commandments are specifically addressing the inner religious beliefs and outward practices of the people. Israel was established as a theocracy, i.e. a holy land where justified holy war maintained the purity of the land, as well as holy punishments on unholy sinners, etc. and they were explicitly marked out as a people cherished especially by God, that was supposed to be evidenced by their singular devotion to him alone. God did not covenant with any other nation in this way. Read through ALL of Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Joshua, and so on to get a real grasp on both the blessings and the severity of Israel entering into covenant with God, with the 10 commandments being the pinnacle summary of their responsibilities to maintain life and peace in the land.
This does not diminish the fact that God will judge all mankind according to their deeds and knowledge of him, but the provisional standard by which nations and societies ought to function (apart from theocratic Israel) is characterized by Natural Law - i.e. the moral character of God known in nature and human conscience, which directs our sense of right and wrong towards our fellow man. A life-affirming general equity of justice and peace to allow humanity to be preserved.
Madalyn Murray O'Hair made pretty much the same argument, which ended up removing God from the classrooms. And as John Adams said, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
Now the Ten Commandments could be SAID to represent Christian (and Judaic) values only, but do they really? Nearly all religions of man codify some version of those 10 laws. Even most governments do so too.
In the absence of ANY moral code in our schools, the most succinct and inclusive turn out to be the Ten Commandments. Understandable by all, even those of lower IQs... plain language... no caveats or exceptions or footnotes...
In addition to the Ten Commandments, I'd like to see the Pledge Of Allegiance also returned to the classroom, along with Civics and an honest American History.
The problem is half of the 10 commandments are specifically addressing the inner religious beliefs and outward practices of the people. Israel was established as a theocracy, i.e. a holy land where justified holy war maintained the purity of the land, as well as holy punishments on unholy sinners, etc. and they were explicitly marked out as a people cherished especially by God, that was supposed to be evidenced by their singular devotion to him alone. God did not covenant with any other nation in this way. Read through ALL of Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Joshua, and so on to get a real grasp on both the blessings and the severity of Israel entering into covenant with God, with the 10 commandments being the pinnacle summary of their responsibilities to maintain life and peace in the land.
This does not diminish the fact that God will judge all mankind according to their deeds and knowledge of him, but the provisional standard by which nations and societies ought to function (apart from theocratic Israel) is characterized by Natural Law - i.e. the moral character of God known in nature and human conscience, which directs our sense of right and wrong towards our fellow man. A life-affirming general equity of justice and peace to allow humanity to be preserved.
I love it when good people, smart people, can agree to disagree, amiably and civilly. Thank you for your response.
It's becoming a rare quality, most especially online.