The Irrelevance of the Ten Commandments in Texas Public Schools.

 The Republican party of the State of Texas thinks it's a good idea to impose their narrow religious beliefs on all children by posting the "Ten Commandments" in all classrooms.

This is coming from the party that abhors "government overreach" and cries out against what it perceives as "religious persecution" by others. Yes, Republicans are promoting a "victim culture" where the perpetrators are the victims.

The latest tactic in the culture wars is the promotion of a document that is essentially irrelevant to American society.  Why would I say that the "Ten Commandments" are irrelevant? I will show you each in order:

1. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

This is irrelevant to American society. There are no laws prohibiting the worship of other gods or no gods. Thomas Jefferson said it best, "It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."

This also contradicts Christian belief that there is only "one true god". If there weren't any other gods, then why would it say, "no other gods before me"? Apparently, you're supposed to ignore the other gods. Under current American law you can worship any other gods. According to the U.S. Constitution, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;"

Republicans love to say that we need to follow the Constitution, unless of course the Constitution gets in the way of promoting Christofascism(1) in this country.

In short, Commandment I is not law in this country and is irrelevant to the majority of the nation.

2. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.”

Seriously? This is America! We're all about graven images. From religious to commercial to political, we identify with graven images. Not only is it NOT against the law to make graven images, the use of many graven images is protected by law.

We even submit our will to a graven image. You don't believe me? Let me remind you:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America ..." Yes, the flag is a graven image. 
 
The Pledge of Allegiance requires Americans to
pledge devotion to an inanimate object.

What else? A cross, a crucifix, and the Ichthys (ἰχθύς) fish. These are all graven images whether you want to believe it or not. Some of you will try to rationalize this. Some of you always do.

Commandment II is not law in this country and is irrelevant to the majority of the country.

Seen here are Trump supporters paying homage at their
Golden Calf, by definition, a graven image.



3. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”

What does this actually mean? Some people think that it means using god as part of a curse or in anger, such as "God damn you!"

Some argue that it means taking false oaths, such as when you falsely claim that you did or did not do something and empower that statement by saying, "I swear to god", or "May god strike me dead.", which is funny because we all know that god never strikes anyone dead when they lie. No one would be left alive.

Others argue that it means using "God" in a phrase that has no real religions significance, Such as the common phrase, "Oh My God" or "Oh My Gawd", or even simply "OMG". Does this mean that when a woman is having an orgasm and she cries out, "Oh god, oh god, oh god!" that she's taking the Lord's name in vain?

Or what about the common American phrase, "GOD BLESS AMERICA"? The meaning of this can be troublesome as it is often written in all caps and without any punctuation. What does it mean?

We can add punctuation and try to decipher this:

"God, bless America." This seems more like a command. You are directing god to "bless" America. It hardly seems like something a pious person would do.

What about, "God, please bless America." This begs the question, wasn't it already blessed? If so, did the blessing run out? Do you have to keep asking for America to be blessed continually so that it stays blessed? 

Then you have to ask how this blessing was manifested since people keep asking for America to be blessed and apparently don't realize that it has already been blessed.

Maybe they just mean, "God blessed America". This would make more sense. Again we have the problem of how this "blessing" manifests itself. Is it something we can experience with our senses? When the Native people of this land were being murdered and run off their lands, did they experience this blessing or was the blessing only for white Europeans?

Even if you told Americans that they should say "God blessed America" instead of "GOD BLESS AMERICA", they would still say "GOD BLESS AMERICA" because Americans just don't like to be corrected. The common response is, "Well, that's how I say it, therefore I'm right."

Then you have the American predilection for mispronouncing words. Take the word "blessed" for example. You will often hear Christians say, "Have a blessed day", but it sounds like "Have a blest" day. 

According to dictionary.com, the word "blessed" should be pronounced "bles-id", which is the way I remember it being pronounced during Catholic services as in "bes-id by thy name."

Commandment III is not law in this country and irrelevant to any subjective reality.

4. “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

Good luck with that. This is a country that runs 24/7/365, Government, first responders, hospitals, utilities, entertainment, theaters, and even the U.S. Postal Service work on Sundays.

What are they going to do? Ban the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and NASCAR from playing on Sundays? Some people work seven days a week out of necessity.


Even if you're not working, you might be traveling or enjoying recreation of some sort. This requires people in service industries to work. People who work in gas stations, restaurants, theaters, and places of recreation are there to service travelers. 

If you get injured on a Sunday, hospital workers will be working on Sunday.

You might be sleeping in, cooking in the back yard, or getting some house or yard work done. You'll be doing anything - except keeping the Sabbath day holy. Because of this, people who work at at radio and television stations will keep you entertained on Sundays.

Despite the rise of "Christian nationalism", church attendance is actually down in this country. You can't force people to attend church!

Sunday road trips require a number of services to do business on Sundays.

Commandment IV is not law in this country and irrelevant even to Christians.

5. “Honour thy father and thy mother.”

This is considered common sense in most cultures world wide regardless of religion. However, it is not considered illegal in this country to dishonor or disobey one's father or mother. On the contrary, in this country, it is considered a right of passage to disobey your parents if you are chasing a dream. 

How many times have we seen the hero or heroine in a book or film disregard a father's or mother's wish not to marry someone considered "unsuitable" or to go far away to pursue a quest of some sort?


Commandment V is not law in this country, and  sometimes it is essential to human growth to disobey the edicts of your parents. Commandment V is irrelevant even to many Christians.

6. “Thou shalt not kill.”

This is considered common sense in most cultures world wide regardless of religion. Exceptions are made to inflict punishment, to terrorize populations, or in warfare.

While this commandment seems cut and dry, many Christians feel it is justified to kill under a variety of conditions.

According to the right wing Christian institution, Liberty University, "The Bible makes it clear throughout Romans 13 that government was established as “an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.” With that biblical view of government, Christians can promote the death penalty as directed by God."(2)

Many Christians feel that the taking of a life in self defense in justified despite the prohibition of taking a life. "Their basic premise is that Christians are perfectly justified in killing in self-defense or in anticipation of a crime. They claim society in general would be much safer if we had a more fully armed citizenry." (3)

This attitude is taken from the violent nature of the Bible:
“You are my war club, my weapon for battle— with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms,"
-Jeremiah 51:20

I am sure Christians take great solace that the Bible allows for violence. This is of course in contradiction with the Bible's view of weapons:

"And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore."
- Isaiah 2:4

In the Bible, God kills frequently and with little justification. "An analysis of every slaughter in the good book reveals that, despite authoring the commandment “Thou shalt not kill,” God caused the untimely deaths of at least 2.8 million people, a slaughter of truly biblical proportions, in which he uses walls, plagues, bears, floods and other people to execute huge numbers in inventive and vengeful ways"(4)

This is also in contradiction with " Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."
- Mather 5:9

And "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,"
- Mathew 5:44 

You would think that the "God fearing", "Bible loving" Republican party would want to do something about unnecessary killings. The truth, however, is the exact opposite. 

Exonerated murderer Kyle Rittenhouse, crossed state lines, while underaged and carrying an illegal weapon and opened fire on unarmed protesters. 

He has since become the darling of the unhinged, right wing Republican zealots. A murderer is their hero.(5)

Kyle Rittenhouse on the night he murdered protesters. 

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott plans to pardon convicted murderer Daniel Perry. Perry, a former USAF sergeant, was convicted of the murder of Garrett Foster,  who was peacefully participating in a BLM protest in Austin. Perry used an AK-47 assault rifle to commit this act of terrorism. 

Conservatives claim that Perry was "defending" himself and "standing his ground" despite the fact that he was in his car and not involved in the protest.(6)

Perry is a known racist who often made racist texts such as, “To bad we can’t get paid for hunting Muslims in Europe.”(7)
Gov. Abbott plans to pardon the murderer Daniel Perry, thus "upholding" the 6th Commandment and likely because Gov. Abbott and the rest of the Texas GOP shares Perry's racist views.

Commandment VI is superfluous in this country. Prohibitions against murder are common in all cultures and religious beliefs. There are already federal, state, and local laws pertaing to murder and man slaughter, with killing allowed in certain exceptions. Refraining from killing is essential to human nature, but irrelevant in many parts of the Bible and irrelevant to many conservative Christians.

7. “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

This is considered common sense in most cultures world wide regardless of religion.

How do Christians fare amongst the general public in terms of adultery? According to a 2014 survey, rates of adultery amongst Christian men and woman are on par with the rest of the nation.  This survey attributes the failings to pornography rather than any other root causes.(6) In other words, being Christian does not make you any better than anyone else.

I can't tell you why, but southern Christians seem to be the biggest consumers of online porn.(8)

You also have Christian swingers  (or "wife swapping") who seem to justify swinging (adultery) within the context of Christianity.(8)

Christian swingers. Notice the crosses on the wall.

Some Christians share not only sex partners, but Bible verses afterwards!(9)

So much for trusting in the Lord, right?

Commandment VII is not law in this country. Adultery is not a criminal offense in this country, but civil litigation is possible. Paying for sex is usually considered a criminal offense in most jurisdictions. If you watch the news, adultery is irrelevant to some Christians, depending on who is committing the adultery. Christians will often forgive or turn a blind eye to adultery in many circumstances, especially among politicians, clergy, or celebrities. 

8. “Thou shalt not steal.”

This is a common sense directive regardless of time, religion, or culture. This should apply to all things, but stealing land from Native peoples can be justified under "Manifest Destiny".

Commandment IIX is superfluous because it is considered common sense in all cultures regardless of religion and is usually considered relevant to the majority of the nation. Laws against stealing promote economic and social stability, but when it happens it can be justified as need depending on social status. The higher your status, the greater your perceived need to steal. 

9. “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”

This is another directive that is relevant across time, cultures, and religions. If you examine American society, lying can and often forgiven and even rationalized lies as "alternative facts". (11)

Case in point, During the presidency of Donald Trump, he uttered over 30,000 lies and misleading statements,(8) but yet called himself the "most honest human being god has ever created."(12)

Then you have the "Karens". The stereotypical "Karen" is a middle aged, entitled, white woman who feels the need to complain about imaginary offenses by people of color or immigrants. They are often caught on camera calling the police to complain about an imagined assault on her person, often by a black bystander. If I had to hazard a guess, most of the "Karens" are Christians.

In the link below is a fine example of a Karen bearing false witness.(13) She later bore false witness again against her employer. She was fired from her job based on her racist actions. She again bore false witness when she claimed that she was fired based on race and gender bias.(14)

Commandment IX is irrelevant to many Americans, especially Karens.

10. “Thou shalt not covet.”

Seriously? First of all, let's define the word "covet:

"to want to have something very much, especially something that belongs to someone else"(15)

That's called "capitalism". Our whole economy is based on wanting what other people have. The wants include money, political influence, resources, land. 

Coveting someoneelse's money or property is the root of capitalism.

For the most part Capitalism is business coveting labor. Labor makes a product which other people want and pay with money that labor wants, but the money is taken away by CEOs because they want the money that labor earns.

 Capitalism is coveting. Nothing is more American than coveting.

Commandment X irrelevant in this country, even to most Christians. Coveting drives the country's economy.

INDOCTRINATION 

"Indoctrination" and "agenda" are words that Republicans like to throw around as though they had an inherently evil meaning. Let's examine those words.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, "indoctrinate" means " to imbue with a usually partisan or sectarian opinion, point of view, or principle."

"Agenda" means "a list or outline of things to be considered or done."

Republicans like to say that gays and drag queens are trying to "indoctrinate" children with their "agenda." Gays and transgender people have been around throughout human history. You're either gay or you're not. If you're not gay, it does no harm to treat your LGBTQ friends, neighbors, and relatives with the same respect that you expect.

Being exposed to LGBTQ people will not make your child gay. They already know if they are or aren't.  It's up to parents to be supportive of their children. 

When Republicans say they want to "protect" children, I don't know what they mean. Guns are the number one killer of children in the U.S. Posting of the Ten Commandments and banning drag shows will not prevent the next mass shooting of children. 

What Republicans aren't telling you is that they also want to indoctrinate and impose an agenda. They want to limit free thoought and teach children to adhere to a very narrow philosophy that marginalizes everyone into predetermined position in a white nationalist, Christofascist society. In that society there will be a caste system where white Christian males are at the top and everyone else is subservient to their wishes. 

Republicans want to create a Nanny State Dictatorship where children are "protected" books, libraries, critical thinking, bodily autonomy, gender equality, healthcare, unions, cultural diversity, religious freedom, equal protection under the law, quality education, a living wage, solar power, environmental conservation, and protecting children from simply being themselves. 

Republicans won't protect them from gun violence because guns are sacred. Republicans won't protect them from racism because white supremacy is part of the conservative agenda. That's the indoctrination we should be worried about.

The U.S. CONSTITUTION 

The final point is the U.S. Constitution. As stated before, Republicans respect the Constitution, unless it gets in their way of controlling the population. The placing of the "Ten Commandments" in school would, in fact, be unconstitutional.

Republicans all think they know the 2nd Amendment, but conveniently forget the first Ammendment. It states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;". Placing the Commandments in the schools would be a clear violation of that. 

The placing of "The Ten Commandments" In school is a meaningless gesture by the Republicans trying to curry favor with the Christofascists and naïve Christians.

It is in fact, indoctrination. 


(1) Christian fascism is a distortion of Christianity. It is a term which is used to describe a far-right political ideology that denotes an intersection between fascism and Christianity.
Evangelical, semi-theocratical movement or temperament of Americans who stand against abortion, sexual education, homosexuality, science, anti-Zionism, and the separation of church and state.
 
(2)  "Liberty Champion"
Opinion: Christians And The Death Penalty
https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2021/03/opinion-christians-and-the-death-penalty/

(3) "Does Scripture Allow for Killing in Self-Defense?"
by David C. Grabbe
https://www.cgg.org/index.cfm/library/article/id/776/does-scripture-allow-for-self-defense.htm

(4) "All The People God Kills In The Bible. Three million is low-balling it."
https://www.vocativ.com/news/309748/all-the-people-god-kills-in-the-bible/index.html



(8) "2014 Survey: Find out how many Christians are having extramarital sexual affairs and how porn is the igniting fuel"
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/2014-survey-find-out-how-many-christians-are-having-extramarital-sexual-affairs-and-how-porn-is-the-igniting-fuel-274742051.html

(8) "Apparently, People in the Bible Belt Watch The Most Porn, Says New Study"
https://www.maxim.com/maxim-man/religious-people-watch-the-most-porn-2017-3/



(11) Final tally of lies: Analysts say Trump told 30,000 mistruths – that’s 21 a day – during presidency
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/trump-lies-false-presidency-b1790285.html

(12) Trump Says He's 'The Most Honest Human Being God Has Ever Created'
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-says-hes-most-honest-human-being-god-has-ever-created-1696687

(13) Central Park 'Karen' Calls Cops on Black Man, Gets Fired From Job | TMZ Live
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjbn7O8K98Q

(14) Central Park Karen Loses Lawsuit Against Former Employer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpvZdjNEPj0

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