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Larry Kudlow points out that the 10 commandments are very much in keeping with our legal system and with Americian goals:
The Ten Commandments should stay right where they are in all cases. Various monuments, structures, and statues of the Ten Commandments can be found all over the U.S., including some highly visible spots in Washington, D.C.
...The Ten Commandments provide the very foundation of our nations legal code. They also make up the basis of the moral values that thankfully guide us in our everyday lives.
I have a suspicion, however, that too many folks forget whats on that list of commandments, or maybe never learned them in the first place. And even if we do know the Ten Commandments by heart, it never hurts to read them through and contemplate them from time to time. So heres all ten:
I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have strange gods before me.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.
Honor thy mother and father.
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Thou shalt not covet they neighbors wife.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors goods.
I have a few direct questions for you: Is it such a bad thing to think about not killing, not stealing, not lying, and not committing adultery? Is it so bad to talk about honoring ones parents? Or to think about a power greater than oneself about God or some higher deity? Or to set aside just one day a week as a spiritual day, separate from the material strivings of the other six days?
Attempting to live by these moral and religious values is a worthy endeavor.
Larry et.al.,
Keep the Ten Commandments on the public monuments, in the public square and on the lips of every American. They won't harm anyone, although I am far from certain they will benefit everyone. How an atheist is honestly to respect truth and the notion of God at same moment is beyond my ability to know.
At the same time, however, let's also embrace the religious codes of all Americans and place them, too, on our public momuments. Let's not stop at the Ten Commandments, but let us include the truths of Ecclesiastes, the sacred words of the Upanishads, and the revelations of Muhammad. Let us drink deep at the well of the Buddha, from the gently flowing river of Laozi and of the wine bottles of Confucius. Americans are more than just a people of Commandments, but are a people from every corner of the globe who embrace the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Attempting to live by these moral and religious values, all of these moral and religious values, is a worthy endeavor.
stephen