Whose Ten Commandments?

Earlier this week, Governor Jeff Landry of Louisiana signed legislation requiring the Ten Commandments be posted in every public-school classroom, from kindergarten through college, throughout Louisiana. Further, he said “I can’t wait to be sued.”

In my bedroom is a 22 x 28-inch laminated poster of the Ten Commandments. It’s there because my stepson gave it to me after I complained about people who don’t know that there is more than one version of the Ten Commandments. The version in my bedroom is the Catholic version. The Catholic version is listed first; the protestant version next.

1. I am the Lord, your God.  You shall not have other gods besides me.
2. You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.
3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s day.
4. Honor your father and your mother.
5. You shall not kill.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

1. I AM the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images.
3. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not commit false witness against thy neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything else that is thy neighbor’s.

Notice that the numbering of each is different from the other. You should be able to see that a child in elementary school may have a problem going from public school to CDC[1] (Catechism) classes at the Catholic Church. The child will see the second set of Commandments on a daily basis, which could conceivably be the influence of a different Christian upbringing, favoring one particular religion over another in defiance of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Numbering is important when the child receives the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) and refers to violating a specific-numbered Commandment. “Father, I sinned against the Seventh Commandment.” The priest believing the child had sexual relations when in actuality, the kid shoplifted an apple.

As I remember from my Catholic upbringing, the first three are about our relationship with God, while the final seven are about our relationships with others. Sort of like the new Commandant Jesus gave followers: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-38. It’s that simple.

“According to the Catholic Encyclopedia Web site, the system for numbering the commandments in Bible translations used by Catholics was determined by St. Augustine,” who lived in the Fifth Century.

The protestant and Evangelical sects include an unnecessary commandment – “Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images.” It’s blatantly redundant and should be a part of the First Commandment that requires no other gods. But with all the statues in a Catholic church you can see why the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church may have forsaken that particular phrase from the original ten.

There is so much more to despise with the protestant commandments. The neighbor’s house, wife, cattle and slaves are on equal par with each other in ‘objects’ not to be coveted. This commandment belittles women and slaves. Archaic practices have no place in the world today.

To criticize both versions, the prohibition against killing is also outdated. As a society, we kill cattle, hogs, chickens, and other animals; some domesticated and some wild such as deer, turkeys, mourning doves, and fish. The Jewish version of commandments has quoted exactly from the Old Testament, The Torah, or the Tanakh – “You shall not murder.”

In the Jewish faith, there are 613 commandments, 248 are dos and the don’ts add up to 365. Let’s post those along with the symbolic Top Ten.

In a pair of U.S. Supreme Court decisions from 2005[2] which challenged the constitutionality of posting the Ten Commandments, Phil Miller-Evans, Pastor at American Baptist Church of the Beatitudes in St. Petersburg, Florida, said the “American Baptists were among the 32 Baptist denominations that filed a friend of the court brief stating that displays actually diminish the Decalogue’s sacred value.”

So, what about other religions. Muslims have no Top Ten, but basic beliefs and principles are a basic theme throughout the Koran. Buddhists have the Five Precepts. Hinduism provides general guidelines for living.

Supporters of the Louisiana law believe the Ten Commandments are a historical document. If that’s the case, classrooms should be wallpapered with all the historical information from all religions and sects across our melting pot.

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[1] The Confraternity of Christian Doctrine is now commonly referred to by its abbreviation, CCD, or simply as “Catechism”, and provides religious education to Catholic children attending secular schools.

[2] Van Orden v. Perry, 545 U. S. 677 (2005), and McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky, 545 U. S. 844 (2005),