Religious vs. Historic Symbols

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by mylittledemon

personally, I think the seperation of Church/State is a good thing. We don't want to end up in a theocratic society. However, I also feel that the 10 Commandments are something that all men can live by. If you actually read them, they are very basic, and I think most people would agree they are "good." But in the end, because they are Biblically based I suppose they don't belong in the legal system.

I agree that we could all live by them and be better people. The legal problem exists in what is traditionally viewed as the first four - to wit:

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

"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 shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."

"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."

"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."

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Thus, when the govt. says the Ten Commandments are the law, that is the same thing as establishing Judeo Christianity as the official religion of the US, which is forbidden by the U.S. Const.

Here is a cool discussion for anyone interested

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_10c7.htm

In the end, I think if the far right wing Christian zealots did not try and sneak the TC into public places in a clear effort to make all non-Chrsitians feel like outsiders in the highly Christian U.S., there would be no big deal. But, a little research will demonstrate that this purpose is the reason behind everyone of these public mountings of the TC - it is just to piss off people.

On edit and a re read - not all that was directed at you and none of it was meant in a bad way