A Ten Commandments Primer

Republican Congressman Lynn Westmoreland (GA-8th CD) embarassed himself this evening on the Colbert Report by not being able to remember the Ten Commandments. Normally, such ignorance would bore me, but Westmoreland is one of the co-sponsors of HR 214, which require the Ten Commandments be posted in the chambers of the House of Representatives. He should know what it says before sponsoring legislation requiring it. As a service to Westmoreland and other benighted Republicans, I present a simple primer.

The Ten Commandments

1. Thou shall have no other Gods before me. For many Republicans, the worship of money is placed above God. Ralph Reed, running for lieutenant governor in Georgia, prayed hard at the altar of Jack Abramoff's payoffs, to the tune of at least $4.2 million.
   

2. Thou shall not make graven images. One of the great ironies of our times is that when Christian devotees of Alabama Justice Roy Moore worship at this huge slab of granite it was because it is a graven image of the Ten Commandments.
   
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Whenever you name God as justification for your petty hatreds of liberals, gays, immigrants, and Democrats, you are breaking this one.
4. Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. I feel bad pointing this out, but Saturday is the sabbath. Sunday worship is a remnant of Roman paganism.
5. Honor thy father and thy mother. The bureaucratic nightmare that is Bush's prescription drug program was a cruelty inflicted upon the elderly to service drug company profits.
   
6. Thou shalt not kill. Some 40,000 civilian Iraq War dead.
   
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, 'nuff said.
8. Thou shalt not steal. I could use Jack Abramoff again or Duke Cunningham, but Halliburton's war profiteering is a better example.
   
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Bush, Cheney, Frist, Hastert, Santorum, the Swift boaters, Ann Coulter. Where do I start? Where does it end?
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's everything. Coveting defines Republicanism. Power, money, oil - coveting what others may have is the core belief of evangelical Republicans.
    

The last commandment is found in the Constitution instead of the Bible, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."

You cannot use your political power to erect crosses (another graven image, by the way) or post your favorite biblical quotes in government buildings. That violated the covenant upon which our country was founded. Erect a cross on you own front lawn or post the Ten Commandments at your place of business, these acts are protected by the Constitution. But don't compel the government to express your religion for you. It's lazy and it's wrong.

tags: ten commandments, colbert report