Bloggy Woggy

[Bella]

I stole this from a blog entry of a friend of a friend. I thought it was entertaining.   It was entitled "14 Commandments".

 
about that "US is based on the 10 commandments" meme, let's look at breaking them:

(i'm using the catholic 10 commandments, protestants and jews have slightly different ones. go fig, huh?)

1 - no gods before me, no graven images
LEGAL. protected in the constitution, and a huge market. also, combining multiple things in one commandment is cheating

2 - dont use the god's name in vain
LEGAL. protected in constitution.

3 - keep the sabbath day holy
LEGAL. most christians dont even go to church on saturdays

4 - honor mother and father
LEGAL. honor is poorly defined at that

5 - dont kill
ILLEGAL*. note here that catholics say "kill" and not "murder". i'll grant that for murder it's illegal, but killing under certain conditions is legal in the US, particular if you're an executioner, cop, or soldier. i'll count it as illegal though since i'm giving the religious benefit of the doubt here

6 - adultery
LEGAL. illegal in some minor spaces i think.

7 - stealing
ILLEGAL. under some circumstances you can argue that you got robbed through legal means, but i'll grant this one

8 - lying
LEGAL. lying is illegal in special cases, but by and large you can get away with it just fine without a criminal law being broken. see also: politics.

9 - coveting your neighbor's wife
LEGAL. coveting is pretty much legal all around.

10 - or any thing that belongs to him
LEGAL. heck, our economy is based on coveting your neighbor's possesions

so that's 2/10 for protestants, 1/10 for catholics.

FAIL.

- -
interesting tidbit, a christian group made this poster as part of an campaign for their conference:




the message they thought they were putting out was "true power comes from humility as per the new testament and the beatitudes. also there is no doubt that we must love our enemies as we do our friends"

didnt go over very well with christians in the US. the whole "be good" thing isnt easy and no one wants to hear it. "be fair" is easier, and "be fair to those who like you and hurt those that dont" is really kinda what we want to hear from those on whom we rely for moral guidance. unfortunately it has nothing to do with virtue.

[SteveS]

8 - lying
LEGAL. lying is illegal in special cases, but by and large you can get away with it just fine without a criminal law being broken. see also: politics.

"see also: politics"      

You know what bugs me about lying?  Its okay for a police investigator to lie to people during interviews.  I find this troubling.

[Steve Reason]

LOL! I'll have to remember this the next time someone gives me the 10 Commandments and our law argument.  

[donkeyhoty]

I have no idea who the black guy, the woman, or the (asian?) dude on the end are.  Is that supposed to be Kim Jong Il?

[Steve Reason]

I have no idea who the black guy, the woman, or the (asian?) dude on the end are.  Is that supposed to be Kim Jong Il?

I think they are supposed to be Kofi Annan, Madeleine Albright, and the current Chinese Chairman.

[bitter_sweet_symphony]

The one at the extreme right looks like Kim Jong II of North Korea. Beside him is Manmohan Singh(prime minister of India). It does look like Kofi Annan beside Osama.

[myleviathan]

This observance is extremely important in the acknowledgement that we live in a generally Secular society. With generally Secular law. From this view I can see where the fundies get off saying they are some sort of minority, because their political representation is lacking, at least when looking at the Ten Commandments in comparison with the U.S. Constitution. I wonder how many fundies out there want to return to some sort of theocracy where the Ten Commandments replace the constitution. Scary thought.

[Will]

I kinda like that poster. I wish more theists thought like that.

[myleviathan]

That poster made me laugh so hard. It's really quite rediculous.