There were seventeen verses and some of them didn't break out the way I was taught. For example, I was told "Do not covet your neighbor's goods," and "Do no covet your neighbor's wife" were two different commandments. In the Bible they are all part of one commandment.
Lately I see the Commandments organized a little differently. The bit about honoring God and the one about not having graven images are two commandments and the coveting is one commandment. No matter how you look at it, the number of verses referring to the Commandments is greater than ten. There is something about out culture that likes neat, even, numbers though, so no matter how they are organized, it will always be ten.
But are the Commandments true rules for living? Are they relevant to school children? Let's take a closer look.
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me
These verses spit in the face of the Constitution. Public institutions should not be telling children (or any US citizen) what gods to worship. This is blatantly stating the Abrahamic God is the only one. Humans are obligated to worship Him and only Him. Schools have no right to tell children that. That's the job of families and religious institutions.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Once again we are enforcing the existence of only one God, which is the Abrahamic God, and no other forms of worship are allowed. Graven images are forbidden.
Where does that leave the Catholics? They love graven images. Churches are filled with statues of Jesus, Mary and all manner of saints. Catholics pray to these images with the belief the saints can work through the statues and hear their prayers. They feel obligated to honor these images. I can remember how every time my grandmother was on the second floor of her home, before she went downstairs she would touch the statues of the saints on the bedroom dresser and kiss the feet of her crucifix. She would cross herself when passing the Virgin Mary night light in the hallway. Jews and Muslims, who worship the same God, would be appalled.
In fact, every religion interprets this differently. Jews, the people these rules were originally written for, do not have religions iconography. There are no images or statues in the temples. Muslims take it to an even bigger extreme and never do anything representational in their art, even in the secular sphere. Most Protestant churches have little to no representational art. Crosses have no dead Jesus on them (they seem to remember how the story ended). There are no saints or Virgin Marys in many Protestant churches. How many images, and what kind are allowed varies from denomination to denomination, and pastor to pastor. Some will hang inaccurate paintings of Jesus on the walls. Others will shun even a plain cross as idol worship.
All this to say the graven image commandment is up for interpretation and I don't see how we can tell children of different faiths not to make any idols without confusing them.
7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
I can remember my religious teachers telling me not to use expressions like "Oh God" in casual talk. I was only supposed to speak His name when praying to Him. Also, it was a grave sin to use a phrase like "God damn" which I think is reasonable. The point is one doesn’t use God's name unless one means it.
Christians in the past tended to be more serious about this rule. If you read books written prior to the twentieth century, God is often referred to as Providence or the Almighty or the Father. Even the most hardcore Christians have moved away from that in the modern era.
Jews are the ones who take it the most seriously. The name of God is so holy you don't speak it out loud because words can be destroyed. You also don't write it. Ever notice how Jewish people will spell it G-D if they have to write it in a secular situation? The name of God only belongs in holy situations.
How do you want schoolchildren to interpret this commandment? Do you think they will follow it because it's on the wall of their classroom?
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
This can be interpreted as "Go to church every Sunday" or it can mean, "Do nothing productive or fun on Sunday." I remember reading the Little House books as a kid. In various books in the series young Laura and young Almanzo hated Sundays because they were so bored being restricted to going to church and reading the Bible. Almanzo's family walked to church because hitching up the horses was considered work. These were people whose families worked hard on farms all week. They wanted and needed that rest. How many Christians, even the ones who go to church every Sunday, observe that rule now? What about those special Sunday dinners (especially if you're Italian)? Isn't cooking work? It is to observant Jews.
Observant Jews still walk to temple on Saturday (also, note the Sabbath is a different day). They observe from sundown to sundown. They do no real work. They pray and go to temple. I don't know what customs Seventh Day Adventists observe for the Sabbath, but they observe it on Saturday and not Sunday. Then there are the Muslims who make Friday the holy day.
Who is correct? Which version of the Sabbath should Louisiana schoolchildren observe?
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
Obey your parents or you will die? That seems extreme to me, but that's how this verse comes across. In Biblical times, it was a tribal society. Not every child born was likely to see its fifth birthday. Family, heritage and continuing the line meant everything to these people. Children had to know where they came from and be respectful of tradition.
However, saying you owe your parents completely loyalty and obedience is not healthy in today's society. We should try to be good children. We should also try to be good parents. An abusive parent doesn't deserve honor and children shouldn't feel shame, or worry about God's wrath, if they don't honor their parents properly.
13 “You shall not murder.
Do children not know murder is wrong? Did the serial killers and mass shooters in the world not know the Ten Commandments? Do they need a daily reminder not to kill people? Atheist entertainer Penn Jillette once said, "I do all murder I want, and the amount I want is zero."
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
At what age do children know and understand what adultery is. If they understand what it is, then I would think they know they shouldn't do it. Still, these are schoolchildren. They aren't married. They won't be cheating on their spouses.
Plenty of deeply religious people still commit adultery. Humans are humans and we do things to sabotage our relationships for any number of reasons. Do you think Donald Trump or Jim Bakker or Marjorie Taylor Greene, or Doug Phillips or Jimmy Swaggart would have cheated on their spouses if they grew up with the Ten Commandments on their classroom wall?
15 “You shall not steal.
Like murder, I think this is one kids learn from the culture at large and don't need the Ten Commandments on the wall to understand. Will it stop a thrill-seeking, mischievous kid from shoplifting a piece of candy or grabbing money from the church collection plate when given a chance? Will kids fear the authority of God more than they fear school authorities or the police? Time will tell I suppose.
16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
Well, I like this one. We don't want kids telling the teacher or their parents or the principal that some innocent other kid did something bad. We don't want them lying about their peers to keep themselves out of trouble. It's a good commandment. Will seeing it daily stop them from doing it?
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
I think this is the most useful commandment. Comparison is the thief of joy. If we sit around wanting what other people have, we'll be miserable. Actually, this sounds a lot like US society today. We all want what everyone else has. We have this entire industry called advertising that focuses on making us want what other people have. Is it a sin, or is it capitalism? Christians love capitalism. We have a little conundrum here.
There are 613 commandments in the Bible. Why did the Louisiana legislature focus in on only these ten? Is it because historically these are the ones Christians find the most palatable? Christians talk of the entire Bible being inerrant and important to follow to the letter, but if a commandment doesn’t suit a Christian (like eating pork or not having tattoos), the response will be, “Jesus formed a new covenant.” That’s fine except why do you use the Old Testament at all? Jesus said there are only two commandments. One is to love God and the other is to love each other. The other commandments come from these. Let’s stick to these two.
There are a hundred commandments I can think of that aren't in the Bible, but should be. Why do we not have commandments against rape, or child abuse, or slavery, or war? Why isn't the Bible clearer about the evils of greed and hoarding resources? Why doesn't it do a better job of condemning racism? To me those are the commandments we should keep reinforcing for children.
But then again, I'm too woke according to many.
How about we show children the 10 Commitments instead?
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