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Conservatives commonly claim that our nation's government was founded around the framework of the Ten Commandments. However, lets take a look at the Ten Commandments to separate what does influence are laws vs what doesn't.
1) Thou shalt have no other gods before me; This has never been law in America as we've had freedom of religion since the founding of our democracy. Some of the early colonies may have required religious adherence but the United States as it has been since 1776 never has.
2) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image; One again, breaking this one has never been against the law in America and it goes hand-in-hand with the first commandment. America has always had freedom of religion.
3) Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; Once again, this has never been law. It may have been against FCC regulations to do so on TV or radio at one point but American citizens were never bound to this.
4) Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy; In places like Oklahoma, you still have blue laws that forbid people from drinking alcohol or buying a car on Sunday. These laws were once more widespread earlier in our national history and only the most conservative, fundamentalist places in the country have left them on the books. Most of the country moved on decades ago.
5) Honour thy father and thy mother; This is common courtesy but has never been the law.
6) Thou shalt not kill; This is the first commandment that is a part of our legal system. However, every civilized society punishes the taking of another human life.
7) Thou shalt not commit adultery; This was once against the law but no longer is.
8) Thou shalt not steal; This is the law of the land as it is in other civilized societies, Christian or not.
9) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour; Lying under oath is illegal and should be, but this would be true with or without Christianity.
10) Thou shalt not covet; Never has been illegal
So, out of the 10 commandments, only three of them are actually part of our system of laws in 2017. Two more have been at one point. That means five out of the 10 commandments have never been the law of the land under the U.S. Government (like I have said, things may have been different in some pockets of colonial America). With this in mind, why do conservatives continue to claim that the Ten Commandments are the foundation for our laws and that they should be everywhere? It seems to me that they apply more to Christians and Jews but have never been a part of secular law.
I always wondered why there are those who argue that the ten commandments are the basis for American laws. I find the 10th commandment offensive in that wives are grouped with the cattle (property of the man).
Did you really need to go through each one individually?
Frankly, I rarely run into anyone claiming that the 10 commandments are the basis of American law. You'll get a few nuts here or there, but few actually believe they're the basis of the law. And if they do, they believe that in the most minimal of ways, almost to the point where it's not actually even taking a position. Like, they'll say God is the father of all things, so that this somehow means that American law must then be at least consistent and inspired by the 10 commandments in the sense that God allows American law to exist. It frankly doesn't even matter if that's true or not; it's such a non-position that it's not really worth being upset by.
I've always wondered why conservatives want to use the 10 commandments as the law of the land when most of them go against our capitalist system. I mean, look at the 10th one for goodness sake. I covet the galaxy S8. I just ordered 2, one for my spouse and one for myself. Isn't this suppose to be a good thing for our economy?
I've always wondered why conservatives want to use the 10 commandments as the law of the land when most of them go against our capitalist system. I mean, look at the 10th one for goodness sake. I covet the galaxy S8. I just ordered 2, one for my spouse and one for myself. Isn't this suppose to be a good thing for our economy?
Specific examples of conservatives wanting them to be law?
Lol, so you believe having the Ten Commandments on display makes them law?
You don't know too much about our legal system.
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