So, originally part of another VERY long blog, (thank you Byron), and still a work in progress, I have decided to give relious hypocrisy its own page. In case you didn't catch the first installment, I am irritated. By all the hypocrisy of the far right in this country. SO, I'm gonna take a look at a little of it, and tell all you lucky people what I think!
First of all, I do not assume that everyone is Christian and knows the Bible, or for that matter that every Christian even knows the Bible. It is the fact that most really DON'T, that has allowed governments across the ages to control the populus with its "divine" commandments from God. I will therefore begin my discussion of religious hypocrisy with a quick review of the Ten Commandments. (The biblical imperatives, not the film.) I choose the Decalogue because it is the one section of the Bible, the one set of rules that seems to be consensually regarded as still applicable. The many hundreds of other laws, such as the stoning to death of a non-virgin bride, the whipping of slaves, and impurity that can only be cleansed with death, MOST modern Christians feel no longer apply to them. A la carte Christianity. But since adherence to the Ten Commandments is regarded pretty much universally as the foundation of a good Christian life, lets just take a brief look. This should be much more convenient than driving to your local courthouse and being subjected to a body cavity search in order to gain entry and read them on the walls of justice.
1. Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10. 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.
It has been argued of late that our ENTIRE legal system is based on these Ten Commandments. Horseshit. The first freedom in this country is the freedom of religion. That is in stark contrast to the first commandment, now isn’t it? Rest on the Sabbath? For who? Bankers and Chick-Fil-A employees? Even churches employ people on Sunday. All of the minestry, child-care workers, musicians, are they all somehow exempt from this commandment? I didn't read that anywhere in the book. And heaven knows how the church crowd likes to eat out afterwards. The rest of us have to eat lunch at 10:30 just to avoid the crowd. If it is sinful to work on Sunday, wouldn't it follow that it would be sinful to engage in activities that cause others to work on that day as well? If not, then you guys who frequent strip clubs ought to be home free. After all, you're not the ones shakin' it fast now are you? Ah, but I digress. Seems that straying from the point may be contagious. Fact is, if there are facts when it comes to this, that half of the commandments don't appear anywhere in our laws. They are purely religious in nature. The half that do are principles common to nearly every religion, and can be found in many codes of law, both secular and religious - even some that predate the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt not kill is not wrong because it is in the Commandments. It is in the Commandments because it is wrong. It's a chicken and egg type thing, only with an answer.
(to be continued shortly...until then, stay off your neighbor's ox, and for heaven's sake don't covet his manservant's ass)
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