Our domestic “war” continues. It’s in our news, daily… violence, abuse, mass killing of innocents. We keep asking “Why?” Well, whether you believe our country’s founded on Judeo-Christian principles, or not, examine with me the wisdom, or lack thereof, of removing every vestige of God from society… particularly, The Commandments. For the sake of this argument, let’s take faith in God out of the equation… temporarily. Now… why the opposition?
You’d think society’s current state would have everyone, coast-to-coast, looking for some framework, some set of rules that could solve our social problems and perhaps, even, help us become a “civil” society. Yes, we have laws, but so what? After decades of teaching our children there are no absolutes… of legitimizing idols whose only claim to fame is their latest movie, song, divorce, arrest, rehab, or illegitimate child… of teaching them “no one’s the boss of me!”… of watching parents disrespect and break our laws at every turn, why are we surprised at the so-what attitude? Try picturing the country we could be if, instead of removing The Ten Commandments, we used them to teach our children, held them up as a standard for behavior.
• Money and Things wouldn’t be our God, and mere humans, or graven images wouldn’t be our idols: “You shall not worship any other God.” (1st and 2nd Commandments) • We’d hear fewer obscenities: “You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.” (3rd )
• We’d have a more rested, less frantic, population: “Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy.” (4th) • Children wouldn’t be so defiant and disobedient:”Honor your father and your mother so that your life (which God gives you) on the land would be long.” (5th)
• Prisons would be empty of brutal, sadistic murderers: “You shall not kill.” (6th)• Marriages wouldn’t be ripped to shreds by extra marital affairs: “You shall not commit adultery.” (7th) • Homes and businesses wouldn’t be burglarized. People wouldn’t be robbed: “You shall not steal.” (8th) • We wouldn’t lie about others or be lied about by others: “You shall not lie.” (9th) • We wouldn’t be filled with envy, jealousy, or discontent: “You shall not covet (desire ardently) your neighbor’s wife or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (10th)
Should we not have laws? No. Would everything and everyone be perfect? No. But, surely we could be better people. Banning prayer and public religious displays certainly hasn’t made us any better, or safer. So, in our efforts to make sense of the senseless, why not recognize humans for what we become when we fail to recognize God and what He wants us to know.
The Way I See It? Our “idols” and leaders are falling like flies, completely failing themselves and us. Our country needs a Power higher than ourselves, if we’re to survive, much less thrive.
“For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. Romans 8:3
“The mind of sinful man is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.” Romans 8:6,7
The Ten Commandments: Why and Why Not? by Patti Bankson syndicated from The Land of the Free.