Thread: Cut Ten Commandments down to 6?

Originally Posted by Ikari

I don't see why we really care that much. Hanging the 10 commandments up in school isn't the worst thing in the world. So long as they ain't forcing you to pray or go to church or what have you.

I don't know, in the end I see lawsuits like this on both sides as useless and we could better focus our energies on real issues instead.

I don't see a problem with the school hanging the 10 commandments up in a hallway, just as long as other religions can have their teachings hung up in a hallway too....... Oops, you mean the school won't hang up teachings other than Christian ones? Then that IS a violation of separation of church and state. The government is not allowed to force any one particular religion down the throats of others.

But if the school would like to hang up ONLY christian teachings in the hallway, how about the quote from Jesus where he says "Give all you have to the poor and follow me"? Or "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter heaven"?

And why do schools hang up plaques of the 10 commandments, when they break an important one by doing the pledge of allegiance in class, where the 2nd commandment forbids idol worship?

You see, there is nothing at all Christian about some demands that some who think they are Christians make. It's not about Christianity. It's about power, and nothing more. When Jesus returns, he is going to be kicking a lot of ass.

Originally Posted by danarhea

talk like a pirate to the flying spaghetti monster.

In general, I'm opposed to a state religion. But I would be in favor of any state religion that required its adherents to talk like a pirate.

Originally Posted by Jredbaron96

Sure they can put the Ten Commandments up there....


Right next to Five Pillars of Islam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And this: Bhagavad Gita - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And this: Four Books and Five Classics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And of course, every other religious symbol that can be found in the US.


Let's not play favorites, shall we?

California's state seal has a greek goddess. It's not problem. So much less than a state seal is a poster on wall. It's a non-issue.

Originally Posted by Thunder

doesn't this belong in the Religion section?

just sayin'.

No, because this is breaking news about a court case that hinges on the Constitution. DUHHH!!

Originally Posted by danarhea

No, because this is breaking news about a court case that hinges on the Constitution. DUHHH!!

removing 4 of the Ten Commandments, sounds like a Religion issue to me.

Originally Posted by katiegrrl0

You called people who don't want to have to read the 10 dictates of some religion hypersensitive. It's the same as those religious people being against same sex marriage. It is hypersensitive. It has a lot to do with as the examples relate the same feelings from both perspectives.

Unless I missed some of the story didn't see anything about forcing anyone to read them. The way I look at it just randomly posting the ten commandments is probably technically against the law. However there is a lot of historical significance to the ten commandments and all in all they are a good set of guidelines. How you interpret them is up to you or the religion to which you belong. Anybody want to argue against thall shalt not kill? Let's give people credit for a little bit of sense. I think we can safely say that most people are not going to start putting the Christian god before all others just because someone hung a poster. Context is everything. If a school wanted to put a list of wise sayings from Buddah or some Muslim prophet on the wall it wouldn't bother me at all if they were truly wise and relevant. There is no reason we shouldn't quote Jesus or Nietzsche if the words contain some good advice or insight. And you know, a lot of people who are for the right for gays to marry also follow the ten commandments. It is particular religious dogma that is the problem.

Originally Posted by Jerry

If you remove the 1st commandment, then the other 9 have no authority and become subjective and optional.

All of them are optional. I don't have to follow most of them if I choose not. The only ones I need worry about following, according to the law, are those that are written into our laws because following them is good for society anyway. The rest are up to my morals as to whether I want to follow them or not.

More importantly, those in that school are not required to follow those Commandments if they do not wish to do so. Again, only those required by law or school rules, and those first 4 especially cannot be placed into school rules or even law. And even the others really only apply in certain situations, especially to teens. The only one that might be universal here is the "thou shalt not kill" but then again, it would depend on how you take that commandment. What if they kill a bug? Does that count? To some it might.

Originally Posted by roguenuke

All of them are optional.

If you accept the 1st, the preceding 9 are mandatory. If you don't accept the first, then as I said, they're all subjective and optional.

Originally Posted by roguenuke

More importantly, those in that school are not required to follow those Commandments if they do not wish to do so.

The school wasn't enforcing the Commandments. It was just a decorative piece of laminated paper on a wall.

Originally Posted by roguenuke

Again, only those required by law or school rules, and those first 4 especially cannot be placed into school rules or even law. And even the others really only apply in certain situations, especially to teens. The only one that might be universal here is the "thou shalt not kill" but then again, it would depend on how you take that commandment. What if they kill a bug? Does that count? To some it might.

It's "murder" not "kill". Ending a life justifiably has always been allowed.

Originally Posted by Jerry

If you accept the 1st, the preceding 9 are mandatory. If you don't accept the first, then as I said, they're all subjective and optional.

And no one is required to accept the first, especially not those students, so reducing them to six is not a bad compromise considering the alternative is very likely to be taking them down completely after a long legal battle.

Originally Posted by Jerry

The school wasn't enforcing the Commandments. It was just a decorative piece of laminated paper on a wall.

Still can be intimidating to students and that is not a good thing in school to appear to promote any religion. I'm pretty sure that if the laws of Islam were hanging on a plaque somewhere, the people of the community would swear that the school was trying to enforce sharia law on the entire student body. Even having the same arguments used against them on how nothing is being enforced, they would be the ones fighting to have them removed.

Originally Posted by Jerry

It's "murder" not "kill". Ending a life justifiably has always been allowed.

Killing a bug is not a justifiable killing to everyone, particularly if it is just a bug in the grass on school property. My school had a courtyard where I saw my first praying mantis. I would say killing it would have been horrible and unjustifiable. Some may not agree with me and I'm pretty sure anyone who might have killed it wouldn't have broken any written school rules or laws on murder in doing so.

Originally Posted by roguenuke

And no one is required to accept the first, especially not those students, so reducing them to six is not a bad compromise considering the alternative is very likely to be taking them down completely after a long legal battle.

Since God is the issuing authority of the Commandments I guess He can edit them down to 6 if He wants. Not sure why God would do that, though.

Originally Posted by roguenuke

Still can be intimidating to students....

If a poster is intimidating students then said students have some anxiety problems which need to be addressed.

Originally Posted by roguenuke

Killing a bug is not a justifiable killing to everyone, particularly if it is just a bug in the grass on school property. My school had a courtyard where I saw my first praying mantis. I would say killing it would have been horrible and unjustifiable. Some may not agree with me and I'm pretty sure anyone who might have killed it wouldn't have broken any written school rules or laws on murder in doing so.

"Murder" under US laws only applies to humans. The point is to refrain from needless killing, and yes this extends into killing animals just for the fun of it. Our civil laws do forbid most of these behaviors, which of course is why hunters have to have a license, a bag-tag, and can only hunt certain game during a specified time.