The Ten Commandments we always see aren't the Ten Commandments

First Amendment battles continue to rage across the US over the posting of the Ten Commandments in public places - courthouses, schools, parks, and pretty much anywhere else you can imagine.

Christians argue that they're a part of our Western heritage that should be displayed as ubiquitously as traffic signs.

Every Decalogue you see - from the 5,000 pound granite behemouth inside the Alabama State Judicial Building to the little wallet cards sold at Christian bookstores - is bogus. Simply reading the Bible will prove this.

Get out your King James version, turn to Exodus 20:2-17.

You'll see the familiar list of rules about having no other gods, honoring your parents, not killing or coveting , and so on.

At this point, though, Moses is just repeating to the people what God told him on Mount Si'nai. These are not written down in any form.

Later, Moses goes back ot the Mount, where God gives him two "tables of stone" with rules written on them (Exodus 31:18).

But when Moses comes down the mountain lugging his load, he sees the people worshipping a statue of a calf, causing him to throw a tantrum and smash the tablets on the ground (Exodus 32:19) - I knew one should be worshiping the cow god

In neither of these cases does the Bible refer to "commandments."

In the first instance, they are "words" which "God spake," while the tablets contain "testimony."

It is only when Moses goes back for new tablets that we see the phrase "ten commandments" (Exodus 34:28). In an interesting turn of events, the commandments on these tablets are significantly different than the ten rules Moses recited for the people, meaning that either Moses' memory is faulty or God changed his mind.

My question is do you honestly believe that these commandments are handed over by God?

Do you believe that these commandments should be everywhere in the United States which are goverment buildings and schools?

What are your overall thoughts on this?


Here are the commandments

1. Thou shalt worship no other god. - ouch! So much for freedom of religion wouldn't you agree?

2. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods. ??? explain please.

3. The feast of unleavened bread thou shalt keep.

4. Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest. - so if we work only 4 days a week are we consider not eligible to go to heaven??

5. Thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end. - well thank you very much for allowing us to observe this

6. Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord God - So three times a year you can see God (Why do I feel this is from the Egyptians where the farmers three times a year would visit the Pharoahs Agricultural Minister to share the crops) - Manmade laws have clearly worked onto a superstitious society

7. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven - Why should I sacrifice anything that involves killing? No thank you

8. Neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning. - Well now I am told when to eat and how to eat my food??

9. The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God.

10. Thou shalt not seethe a kid(ie, a young goat) in his mother's milk.

Gee...there you go again... There is quite alot more but these are the basics. It's all sewn up in loving others as yourself & fulfilling the laws of God in that way. To love one another is an expression of love. Surely smiles...you aren't trying to cause dissention now are you? That would not be showing love, would it now?

BTW...changing the wording to fit another "world" view doesn't change God's words.


"And God spoke all these words, saying: 'I am the LORD your God…

ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'

THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'

FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'

FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.'

SIX: 'You shall not murder.'

SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.'

EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.'

NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'

TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'

Just an after thought here...about loving others... God says to love Him with ALL your heart...it starts there & should spill over to others. It's not taking God or people or any of our blessings for granted. That produces resentment & bitterness & hatreds that we should not carry. Along with pride & envy & the Lust for more of...

That leads to coveting which is ill gotten gains.

Sounds pretty clear to me.

Crystal clear to me too.

LOL...