Whose Rights Is the Right Protecting?
I am always amazed when the religious right demands that all Americans recognize the Ten Commandments as the source of our system of government and laws. Clearly, these folks can't have read Exodus 20 very closely.
As I'm sure all of you are aware, Commandments 1 through 4 are clearly religious directives. Number 4 requires that on the sabbath, "No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter, or your male or female slave, or your beast, or by the alien who lives with you." Is the religious right advocating not only that all stores be closed on Sunday (the traditional American Christian sabbath), but that athletic contests, such as professional football and NASCAR auto racing be prohibited?
The point here is that the Ten Commandments are religious and social requirements. Their social/moral commandments (murder, adultery, stealing and false witness) are social strictures that apply to more than just Judeo-Christian cultures.
To claim that the Ten Commandments for the bases for our system of government and laws is not only wrong, but it flys directly in the face of what our country's founders said in the Declaration of Independence. They did not acknowledge God's laws. They made a much bolder claim. They claimed that the right's of man came from God. You can look it up here or read it below:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”
Our system of government is based first on rights, then on laws. Some may not agree with the founders that God is the source of our rights, but I don't see how anyone can agree with the religious right that the Ten Commandments are the basis of our republic.
There is a way we can get the word out that our nation is based on rights not commands. One Pissed Off Veteran stayed up late to find the Foundation Foundation, an organization committed to honoring the Bill of Rights.
"Our mission is to promote awareness and respect for the Bill of Rights as the foundation of our individual freedoms, our laws, and the American system of justice, through the design and crafting of Bill of Rights displays to be placed on public lands throughout America, beginning with those sites where displays of the Ten Commandments are currently found."
Check them out, send them money. Ask your pastor to send a cut from this week's collection to them. Afterall, without the Bill of Rights, there might not be any religious freedom in America.
As I'm sure all of you are aware, Commandments 1 through 4 are clearly religious directives. Number 4 requires that on the sabbath, "No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter, or your male or female slave, or your beast, or by the alien who lives with you." Is the religious right advocating not only that all stores be closed on Sunday (the traditional American Christian sabbath), but that athletic contests, such as professional football and NASCAR auto racing be prohibited?
The point here is that the Ten Commandments are religious and social requirements. Their social/moral commandments (murder, adultery, stealing and false witness) are social strictures that apply to more than just Judeo-Christian cultures.
To claim that the Ten Commandments for the bases for our system of government and laws is not only wrong, but it flys directly in the face of what our country's founders said in the Declaration of Independence. They did not acknowledge God's laws. They made a much bolder claim. They claimed that the right's of man came from God. You can look it up here or read it below:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”
Our system of government is based first on rights, then on laws. Some may not agree with the founders that God is the source of our rights, but I don't see how anyone can agree with the religious right that the Ten Commandments are the basis of our republic.
There is a way we can get the word out that our nation is based on rights not commands. One Pissed Off Veteran stayed up late to find the Foundation Foundation, an organization committed to honoring the Bill of Rights.
"Our mission is to promote awareness and respect for the Bill of Rights as the foundation of our individual freedoms, our laws, and the American system of justice, through the design and crafting of Bill of Rights displays to be placed on public lands throughout America, beginning with those sites where displays of the Ten Commandments are currently found."
Check them out, send them money. Ask your pastor to send a cut from this week's collection to them. Afterall, without the Bill of Rights, there might not be any religious freedom in America.
posted by RJB at 12:30 PM
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