When I wrote about VI, I did not mention abortion because there was already a chapter on the subject. While abortion is another form of humans killing humans, it deserves a greater space to discuss it. Perhaps another blog sometime.
VII. Do not commit adultery. This is a tough one, because it goes directly against everything Hollywood is trying to teach us. Probably, this law is the one that most people think very little about because they do not worry about the outcome of a transgression of it. Bed jumping is something that we see in the entertainment presented to us each day, and most take it as it is presented—just entertainment. The big problem with this commandment is from those who do practice adultery as a way of life and do not wish to have their habits exposed as wrong or evil.
The history of this commandment is quite simple and goes back to the time when estates were passed on to the oldest son. It was very necessary that the son was, indeed, related to the father and not the son of another. The adultery laws were very strict and many women were stoned because they were suspected of adultery. This commandment included the husband as well and made it an offense to both God and society by both sexes. Not many years ago, adultery was the only offense accepted as a reason for granting a divorce in many states. Nevada became the divorce capital because of their low requirements for residency and lack of needing adultery as the reason to grant the divorce. This was true just fifty years ago for New York state and many others. The erosion of the offenses or the ease of obtaining divorces started at that time, and most states allow divorce for “irreconcilable differences.” I think that this means that two people cannot get along with each other.
The reason that this commandment is necessary today is the need for family values as a procreation center. The environment in which to raise and nurture children cannot be maintained with adultery included in the family. While sexual freedom again rears its ugly head, it should be confined to the family structure when trying to raise and educate children. The destruction of the family has shown us that the results are children without the skills to become the kind of adults we need to keep our society going many times. Child abuse and social skills are affected when the family breaks up especially when there has been the disloyalty of adultery. Most of the state and local laws against adultery have been removed from the books and people are not arrested for committing it, but the moral law has never wavered in the attempt to save the value of family trust.
VIII. Thou shalt not steal. This is the one commandment that every one agrees with but let us look at it as it really is. What is stealing? Most of us think of the robber or the corporate thief but do not associate ourselves with stealing.
Do not steal unless you can get away with it is closer to the real commandment we think we are reading. If we can hide income from the tax man, it is not stealing but good accounting. When a purchase is made and you are handed more change than you have coming, it is just good fortune. If we find money or other valuables, returning it to an unknown person is too much work. When we overcharge for our services and products, it is considered good business. As we discussed earlier, the person who would not think of stealing or gouging anyone changes his spots when he is acting as a corporate head. Now stealing is just a stepping stone up the ladder of success, and the victim is hidden from view and protection. We do not prosecute anyone because they overcharged us for an automobile or fixing our plumbing. It is assumed that government contracts have built in overcharge coverage and sometimes kickbacks for the contract. Repaying politicians for their help in getting government work in the form of campaign contributions is never thought of as stealing from the public, and as we look closer it is evident that stealing seems to be a way of life for many who can get away with it.
The latest form of stealing thought to be good business is the meteoric rise in fuel prices. Making a lot of money is the capitalist way and is considered the right of a free society, but when that same system forces people to not heat their homes or not buy necessary medicine in the name of increased profits it becomes stealing from the poor and unprotected and is as morally wrong as robbing a bank. When the commodity exchanges throw away their ethics and morality for obscene profits, it is stealing and the result is catastrophic for those who cannot afford to live normally.
The American way of freedom to do your thing is very important and should be protected, but the very consumer who is relying on services and products of those free to make and perform them deserves some consideration and not to be victimized by those profiting from the same consumer. The Sherman Antitrust Act was supposed to protect us from monopolies but does not seem to work all the time. I guess it depends upon who is being misused. It may be better if this commandment were put on every public and private building rather than be removed because some think it to be religious.
IX. Do not lie. Bearing false witness is a way of life for many and it is easy to hear just by turning on a radio or television set. We are being drowned in advertising and marketing schemes that promise all kinds of things and results—from losing weight to super drugs that we are to ask our doctor about. How anyone thinks that a doctor should prescribe a medicine because we heard it on television is quite moronic. If my doctor should respond to this request, I would have to find another doctor yet each evening we are bombarded with drug advertisements telling us to do just that. To diagnose a viewer’s medical problem over the airwaves is bearing false witness and then to add thirty percent to the cost of the drug product to pay for the advertisement is pretty close to stealing.
Telling lies is a way of life for the politician, and slanting the news is another way to mislead the public with false testimony. Projecting innocence and truth for the purpose of persuading a reader or viewer to a different point of view and then taking statements out of context or adding and subtracting to them is bearing false witness, and when done in a court of law is punishable as perjury. Politicians and opinionated newscasters are guilty of this every time they open their mouths and have led many to expect what they hear to be truthful.
There is a number, which has been given through studies, that supposedly relates to the number of times each of us lies each day. I do not know what that number is, and I am too lazy to look it up, but the fact that studies have revealed that not telling the truth is a problem for most of us should shake us up a little. When you are stopped for speeding, do you agree with the officer and say yes I was speeding, or do you deny the infraction? It is often difficult for us to admit our mistakes and errors, and we tell the story in a way to minimize the effect on our image to others. Stretching the truth is just a normal way of life, and if we can enhance our position it is usually the way to go. Within the last few years, a couple of coaching positions were filled with new people. It became known later that the applicants had inflated their resumes with college degrees that they had not earned. Both were forced to resign in shame because of the misrepresentation of their history and education. Again, if you can get away with it, there is no problem, but when you get caught bearing false witness you are reduced to the common thief level. Stretching the truth, embellishment and just making up a story all add to the same thing, and it is wrong, so why not illustrate the fact on the courthouse wall both outside and within.
X. Do not covet. Do not yearn, crave or wish for that which is someone else’s property. Have you ever wondered why this commandment was added? There are no laws in any society that I know of that prohibit wishing for your neighbor’s property or his wife, and keeping up with the Joneses is the way many of us live. I have questioned this many times and wondered what effect following this commandment would have on a society. Think about a community where everyone is happy with what they have and competition for the biggest pool or largest home is not evident. Maybe this is not a good example, but it you continue to apply this line of thought to the would-be thief or corporate climber it is easier to see an effect.
When I was in the workforce, it became evident to me that being timorous did not get you anywhere in the promotion area. The competition for the next higher job was a self-applied pressure that many times prevented a person from doing his or her job with the company in their best interest. The promotion and competing many times caused people to throw stumbling blocks in their competition’s path rather than just try to outperform them. Jealousy and envy were evident in many meetings, and it was uncomfortable many times to know that your colleagues were wishing you would fail.
The wish to have power or wealth that is controlled by others fuels our way of life many times, and the politician is a good example. We elect a person to represent us in government and provide leadership and action to solve problems and make our lives more equitable with others. After the election the reasons given for running are cast aside, and the race for power and reelection is on. The wish to continue in the position and gain influence overcomes the reason for being in the position. Their side of the fence has, only, voters wishing for action and representation, but the other side has power, influence and a chance to rub elbows with the most powerful people in the country. The greener grass is calling, and that is where most attempt to go: over the fence into a political oblivion that forgets the very subjects depending upon him or her but lets him realize his dreams of obtaining that which he does not have. The commandment has been violated.
While the secularists believe this to be a religious law and therefore has no place being displayed, it may be the key to many of the ills of our society. Jesus did tell us that to think of adultery was the same as performing the act so maybe this is religious, but if you put it back into secular terms, adultery would not happen if no one thought about it. This commandment is the law that can prevent the other commandments from being violated. It is the law that tells us not to be biased and envious of others, and may be the one commandment that addresses how we treat each other as human beings. Helping our neighbor instead of wishing to have his possessions might be a good way to live. This is not religious when the community is a better place, and while most religions teach us to treat our neighbor as we would have them treat us, it is not a quest to instill a religious belief in a super intelligence to carry this out. Why would anyone want a reminder to give up our biases and envy to be removed from public sight? Again, it is not the religious aspect but the call for a more moral society that causes many to wish not to be reminded of their own biases.
Another way of looking at this commandment is backward, or what I call the “reverse covet.” Being politically correct and behaving in the same manner as others is a requirement of many in our society today. Rather than wishing for the neighbor’s possessions we want the neighbor to think and act the same as we do. I have mentioned that the NAACP wants all Black people to be Democrats, and when one of the Black community raises him or herself to a high position within the Republican Party they are no longer considered Black. The struggle of the minority to remove these commandments from any public place is an example of this, with their wish to make everyone see and hear as they do. The idea that we are free-willed and live in a country that protects freedom of religion, speech and assembly is abhorrent to these individuals, and they wish to force the rest of the populace to their beliefs. Our news media have the same problem as they find it difficult to tell us the day’s news without slanting it to one political or secular side or the other.
There you have it. The Ten Commandments as a secular set of laws that have been the basis for civilized societies for more than three thousand years. Now we find many who are afraid to look at them because they are a reminder that moral law does exist even if one has no religious belief. The ethos of a society will eventually be the determining factor of the life of that society. A reminder of the quality of that ethos is not a bad way to extend the life of our society.
(30)