Here's a novel idea on where to place a 10 Commandments stone. How about in front of a CHURCH!

[bulloney]

A neighbor was on her high horse over how our liberal court system is contributing to the downfall of society by not allowing 10 Commandment markers in front of courthouses.

I suggested they be placed in front of churches. There's no legal debate. No controversy. Many churches are located in prominent parts of town. Some are even in the heart of downtown, just like courthouses. I said these people who try to get such displays up on courthouse property aren't trying to support any morals or ethics. They are just doing this to get their 15 minutes of fame in the media.

I'm trying to think of any church that I've known that has a 10 Commandments display in front of it. I can't think of any.

Can you?

[muntrv]

1. Because the loudmouths are too lazy or hungover to go to church. So the

government has to breastfeed them their religion.

[remoulade]

2. One thing you will NOT find is a large plaque in front of a church quoting Matt. 6:5

Guarantee.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

9. Or 6:6

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. Churches, no. Synagogues and Jewish temples, yes.

And to answer all the assholes who think posting the "ten commandments" would somehow be helpful, which assholes tend to be only Christians, I suggest that instead, if anything is going to be posted, they should be lobbying to post the words of Jesus: Blessed are the poor, blessed are the meek, love your neighbor, turn the other cheek, forgive seventy times seven times, if your brother asks for your cloak offer him your coat as well.

And so on.

[pleah]

16. Hey, what a great idea! Nah, they'd never go for that.

Off subject. I have a hat with the bullet hole smiley. It is almost twenty years old. Love that hat.:evilgrin:

[terisan]

4. Brilliant!!!! You untied the Gordian Knot with Your Sword of Reason. nt

[ZombieHorde]

5. K&R

[L0oniX]

6. How about we have large "Thou shalt not kill" signs on the front of army recruiter stations too.

[SmileyRose]

18. Snort

you made iced tea go up my nose.

[EFerrari]

7. I can think of a lot of Republicans that might need a pocket version.

:shrug:

[Raine]

8. Every place ReTHUGlicans gather

is really where it should be. ReTHUGS for all they self-righteousness don't seem to know that lying, stealing, bearing false witness etc are against God's laws. I think they need to be reminded.

[mmonk]

10. I got a better idea. Let's post the 1st amendment inside Churches.

[Coexist]

11. so simple, yet so right.

I know of none.

[msongs]

12. no churches around here have that out in front, maybe not even inside.....nt

[Gregorian]

13. Hey, are you Bill Hicks?

I loved how he proposed that those who were pro life should lock arms at a cemetary. Not at medical clinics.

I love your idea. How novel! Haha.

[RJ Connors]

14. Not to mention the fact that if there is anyone who needs to review them

it is certainly the Christians. Having them on the front lawn of their church would save them the trouble of having to run down to the courthouse. (Like I really think they do that)

[the_chinuk]

15. Yes, and it should be facing the church. Because the occupants need to be reminded,most of all. n/t

[TexasObserver]

17. I always ask 10 Commandment freaks if THEIR church displays them.

You'd think they would, but the vast majority have never considered it.

It demonstrates that their pushing of the 10 commandments in public places is all about pushing their belief system. They don't even give a damn about the 10 commandments say, and most don't follow them, anyway.

[pansypoo53219]

19. 1st

ask her to recite them. colbert got a rite wing congressman on that. shit. been decades since i went to church and i can name them.

[greendog]

20. Quite a few of the church's around here have the 10 commandments out front.

Of course, they're posted everywhere else too.









...and in a lovely display at the County Courthouse

[AspenRose]

22. I am a Christian and I take offense of seeing that on the American "flag"

For the OP: So what did the lady say when you suggested they go in front of a church? I'd love to know her response. Probably *crickets*

[bulloney]

26. She really couldn't say anything. I think I ticked her off, but that's her problem.

I've seen too many cases where people can get their point across without having to resort to tying up the courts just for 15 minutes of fame on TV.

I get into the same types of discussion over abortion. I live in a very "pro-life" Catholic area. Whenever this person and others started preaching to me about why we couldn't vote for Clinton or Obama for president because they support abortion rights, I point out that the Catholic church also is opposed to capital punishment and the Iraq war. How do you justify voting for Bush or McCain?

Knowing these people and their families, I'm sure I'm not being held in high esteem with them. But, I've found that conservative and logic don't often mix.

[AspenRose]

28. Good for you.

:thumbsup:

[Bluebear]

21. I was just at a hotel in Dallas and before you walked into the lobby, there were the Commandments

MCM "Elegante" Hotel...big as life, 6 feet tall in granite. Idiotic place for it.

[Gregorian]

23. Dallas? Look closely, as they must have a disclaimer at the bottom.

Not legal binding for politicians in Texas or inmates on death row, in off election years, or during times of extreme weather conditions...

[jakefrep]

24. It will never happen because it makes too much sense.

I wouldn't want it unless the monument included the 5 Commandments that Moses dropped in "History of the World, Part I".

[SoCalDem]

25. The funny part about all the "10 Commandments" stuff is how it got started here

When the movie came out, it was a PUBLICITY STUNT, and the movie people planned "premieres" all over the Bible Belt, and put up those 10 commandment things all over ..in many small towns, to gin up interest in the movie..

and once the evangelical/fundamentalist movement got fired up recently, they "re-discovered" all these things languishing all over in weed-infested parks & empty lots....so of course they had to have MORE..and then worship them..and sue over them:)

a movie stunt..how appropriate, in a weird way..


information at this link:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3195408

[intaglio]

27. Which 10 commandments?

The ones we say are Commandments; from Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5; but which are not described as the Commandments ie the following

1) Protestant and Catholic = No other gods before me;

or Hebrew = I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

2) Protestant and Hebrew = Don't make 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: Do not bow down to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord your 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 showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments

or Catholic = You not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

3) Protestant and Hebrew = You not take the name of the Lord your God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.

or Catholic = Remember thou keep the Sabbath Day.

4) Protestant and Hebrew = Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor, and do all your work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord your God: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor the stranger that is within your 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.

or Catholic = Honor your Father and Mother.

5) Protestant and Hebrew = Honor your Father and Mother: that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God has given you.

or Catholic = You shall not kill.

6) Protestant and Hebrew = You shall not kill.

or Catholic = You shall not commit adultery.

7) Protestant and Hebrew = You shall not commit adultery.

or Catholic = You shall not steal.

8) Protestant and Hebrew = You shall not steal.

or Catholic = You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

9) Protestant and Hebrew = You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

or Catholic = You shall not covet thy neighbour's wife.

10) Protestant and Hebrew = You shall not covet thy neighbor's house, you shall not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is your neighbor's.

or Catholic = You shall not covet your neighbour's goods.

Or perhaps we should go with the Commandments actually named as Commandments in the Bible from Exodus 34

1) You shall worship no other god (For the Lord is a jealous god).

2) You shall make yourself no molten gods

3) The feast of unleavened bread shall be kept in the month when the ear is on the corn.

4) All the first-born are mine.

5) Six days shall you work, but on the seventh you shall rest.

6) You shall observe the feast of weeks, and the feast of the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end

7) You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread.

8) The fat of my feast shall not remain all night until the morning.

9) The first of the first fruits of your fields you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God.

10) You shall not seethe a kid in its mother's milk.

It would be nice to know

[TheMightyFavog]

29. How's about a bit of Carlin to shed a little light on the subject?

Here is my problem with the ten commandments- why exactly are there 10?

You simply do not need ten. The list of ten commandments was artificially and deliberately inflated to get it up to ten. Here's what happened:

About 5,000 years ago a bunch of religious and political hustlers got together to try to figure out how to control people and keep them in line. They knew people were basically stupid and would believe anything they were told, so they announced that God had given them some commandments, up on a mountain, when no one was around.

Well let me ask you this- when they were making this shit up, why did they pick 10? Why not 9 or 11? I'll tell you why- because 10 sound official. Ten sounds important! Ten is the basis for the decimal system, it's a decade, it's a psychologically satisfying number (the top ten, the ten most wanted, the ten best dressed). So having ten commandments was really a marketing decision! It is clearly a bullshit list. It's a political document artificially inflated to sell better. I will now show you how you can reduce the number of commandments and come up with a list that's a little more workable and logical. I am going to use the Roman Catholic version because those were the ones I was taught as a little boy.

Let's start with the first three:

I AM THE LORD THY GOD THOU SHALT NOT HAVE STRANGE GODS BEFORE ME

THOU SHALT NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD THY GOD IN VAIN

THOU SHALT KEEP HOLY THE SABBATH

Right off the bat the first three are pure bullshit. Sabbath day? Lord's name? strange gods? Spooky language! Designed to scare and control primitive people. In no way does superstitious nonsense like this apply to the lives of intelligent civilized humans in the 21st century. So now we're down to 7. Next:

HONOR THY FATHER AND MOTHER

Obedience, respect for authority. Just another name for controlling people. The truth is that obedience and respect shouldn't be automatic. They should be earned and based on the parent's performance. Some parents deserve respect, but most of them don't, period. You're down to six.

Now in the interest of logic, something religion is very uncomfortable with, we're going to jump around the list a little bit.

THOU SHALT NOT STEAL

THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS

Stealing and lying. Well actually, these two both prohibit the same kind of behavior- dishonesty. So you don't really need two you combine them and call the commandment "thou shalt not be dishonest". And suddenly you're down to 5.

And as long as we're combining I have two others that belong together:

THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTRY

THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOR'S WIFE

Once again, these two prohibit the same type of behavior. In this case it is marital infidelity. The difference is- coveting takes place in the mind. But I don't think you should outlaw fantasizing about someone else's wife because what is a guy gonna think about when he's waxing his carrot? But, marital fidelity is a good idea so we're gonna keep this one and call it "thou shalt not be unfaithful". And suddenly we're down to four.

But when you think about it, honesty and infidelity are really part of the same overall value so, in truth, you could combine the two honesty commandments with the two fidelity commandments and give them simpler language, positive language instead of negative language and call the whole thing "thou shalt always be honest and faithful" and we're down to 3.

THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOR'S GOODS

This one is just plain fuckin' stupid. Coveting your neighbor's goods is what keeps the economy going! Your neighbor gets a vibrator that plays "O come all ye faithful", and you want one too! Coveting creates jobs, so leave it alone. You throw out coveting and you're down to 2 now- the big honesty and fidelity commandment and the one we haven't talked about yet:

THOU SHALT NOT KILL

Murder. But when you think about it, religion has never really had a big problem with murder. More people have been killed in the name of god than for any other reason. All you have to do is look at Northern Ireland, Cashmire, the Inquisition, the Crusades, and the World Trade Center to see how seriously the religious folks take thou shalt not kill. The more devout they are, the more they see murder as being negotiable. It depends on who's doin the killin' and who's gettin' killed. So, with all of this in mind, I give you my revised list of the two commandments:

Thou shalt always be honest and faithful to the provider of thy nookie.

&

Thou shalt try real hard not to kill anyone, unless of course they pray to a different invisible man than you pray to.

Two is all you need; Moses could have carried them down the hill in his fuckin' pocket. I wouldn't mind those folks in Alabama posting them on the courthouse wall, as long as they provided one additional commandment:

THOU SHALT KEEP THY RELIGION TO THYSELF.