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April 23, Sun, 2006
Ref:
THE TEN
COMMANDMENTS DAY.COM - TENCS
Church
State.org
John 14:15 - If you love me, display,
restore, enforce keep my commandments.
- A group of noted Evangelical leaders have
set aside a ‘Ten Commandments Day’ slated for May 7, 2006
(Sunday) this year and to be celebrated as an ‘Awareness Day’
and also a ‘Pledge Day’ so to speak every year. For those
willing, they may also pledge their ‘Obedience’ to the Ten
Commandments by signing a document, I assume, something that
amounts to a ‘Declaration of Obedience’. Is it really to the
Ten Commandments
Commission or is it to God? If it is to God, then why do I
need a middle man and sign a third party pledge? I am reminded
of the Old Testament times! Anyway, click here
to
read (PDF doc). The document also states that those who are
willing may work toward the ‘restoring’ of the Ten Commandments
in the United States to its rightful place (and all nations) by
acts of love and reconciliation (and also non-violent legal
action) while also acknowledging the diversity of expression
across cultures and religions. While all the above intentions
seem to be noble, I am now wondering what I as a Christian
should be really aware of? What I as a Christian should take
stand for in this age of unending calamities, natural and
man-made?
- As I set forth my views, I hope to tread
gently and not hurt anyone’s feelings or intentions. You are
free to respond to this article with your disagreements or any
other comments if any and the issues raised will be addressed as
best I can with biblical support, and if you so wish, your
responses will also be posted on this site.
- Also, in setting forth my thoughts, I
would like to use the Bible as the guide. The following verses
come to mind.. ‘Search the Scriptures, for in them is eternal
life…Study to show thyself approved unto God….Compare scripture
with scripture (I would even say compare Scripture with history,
science and anything else to gain a comprehensive and current
understanding of how it applies to today) and then God says
‘Come let us reason together' …so I hope to be reasonable in my
approach.
- Before I take a stand on anything, it is
best to know the Whys, Whats and Hows of any given issue. One
thing to note is, we all can agree on the importance of the Ten
Commandments, but can we agree on how it is applied and its
rightful place in society? Where do we even begin? Unity at what
cost and on whose terms?
- The following explanation has been given
as to why we need to focus or set aside a day to honor or be
aware of the Ten Commandments:
-
“Recent court rulings against the Ten Commandments, along with a
host of disturbing trends we witness daily throughout our
culture, clearly demonstrates that our nation is moving away
from that tradition.”
- My response:
For this movement to have any credibility, the Evangelicals
should first wholeheartedly rescind their current theological
position that the Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross!
-
And what are the recent court rulings that have been made
against ‘The Ten Commandments'? Are the courts and the current
legal system established to well protect and enforce the ‘Ten
Commandments’? or its mere displays? If so, I wonder and I would
like to know where in the U.S. Constitution was there any
mention of the Ten Commandments or the protection of its mere
display on government property? The government to my knowledge
has not banned any religious symbols from places of worship or
other non governmental places, so what is the real issue here?
It is also said that “a host of disturbing trends we
witness daily in our culture clearly demonstrate that our nation
is moving away from that tradition.”
So what are the ‘disturbing’
trends that we are witnessing that demonstrate that ‘our’ nation
is moving away from that tradition? History shows and the Bible
states clearly that this Planet is continuously deteriorating
morally and is headed for a ‘complete destruction’ before a
complete restoration by God Himself. So what is new? Further,
was there anytime in the history of the United States since its
inception, that the U.S. was morally more upright than now and
that somehow this nation has moved away from that ‘pristine’
moral condition?
Many believe that the U.S. started out
as a ‘Christian’ nation and that somehow we need to get back to
the ‘Judeo-Christian’ tradition. If anyone takes time to read
the ‘Declaration of Independence’(read
it here), the declaration
clearly states that this nation is to become independent to
among other things for its peoples to freely pursue ‘life,
liberty and happiness’. Of course it mentions the Creator as
creating all men equal and endowed with some inalienable rights
and invokes God’s protection in the preserving of this republic
and its sovereign rights. The declaration is not a ‘Declaration
of a Christian State’ where only the Christians are its rightful
and pre-eminent citizens. It is a gross distortion to say that
the U.S. was established as a Christian Nation when the
Declaration of Independence itself does not explicitly or
implicitly refer to such a ‘Christian Formation’. This country
was established as a ‘Federal Republic’ where all are free to
pursue religion or no religion and to be free from the tyranny
of the ‘mother’ country i.e., England at that time. The
individual States consent to be governed collectively as a
Federation, therefore the term ‘Federal Republic’ and not a
‘Christian Republic’. Moreover, the U.S. does not have a
'Christian' Constituition and a 'Christian' Bill of Rights. One
other question to ask is if the U.S. is a Christian nation by
proclamation or practice or both and if so, who is suppose to
run this country as a 'Christian' nation?
Biblical
history also clearly shows that the experiment of a Religious
State as a ‘chosen nation’ failed in the end simply because the
‘chosen did not choose’ to obey God and therefore no longer
entitled to a ‘Chosen Nation’ status. So is God going to repeat
that same experiment again? God has always been in the business
of ultimately saving individuals who choose to choose Him on a
voluntary basis. ‘Work out your own salvation’ the Bible says
and not engaged in the working out the salvation of one nation
or the other, as nations are not going to be saved in the end
but only its people who choose to be saved. When Jesus said ‘My
kingdom is not of this world’ and that the Gospel shall be
preached to all the world before the END comes, He did not leave
room for any illusion that somehow through love and
reconciliation, and through various human efforts the nations of
the world will unite ‘Under God’, even though attempts will be
made in the end times to do such a thing. After all, the Bible
clearly states that in the end times, nation shall rise against
nation and people against people and consequently an attempt
made to unite all to obey God by legislation! How soon we forget
the lessons of history and the Bible itself predicts?
-
“These actions have threatened the very fabric and foundation of
our culture and faith. The Ten Commandments and all other
references to God, which have served as the moral foundation and
anchor of our great country, are systematically being removed
from public places. Public displays of the Ten
Commandments and other symbols of our faith have been a powerful
visual testimony to the fact that the United States of America
is "one nation under God." Their removal from public places
shows that those with a secular humanist agenda are intent on
destroying the moral heritage of our nation.”
- My response:
So what are the actions of
the secular humanists that are threatening the ‘foundation’ of
our culture and faith? What is our culture and who defines that
culture? Isn’t this country a multi-cultural and pluralistic
nation? Whose faith is being threatened by what actions? Faith
is being referred to as though ALL had the same faith or the
same interpretation of Faith at one time in the past! What is
the battle to be fought here? The Ten Commandments and
references to God are being systematically
removed from ‘display’ in the Public
places is being claimed. So is removing a display of
the Ten Commandments from a public place tantamount to removing
God from individual belief and practice of any religion? Does
the Bible say anywhere that Christians are to monumentalize and
memorialize and thus ornamentalize the Ten Commandments in any
public place, if so, why not ‘display’ the Ten Commandments
everywhere including all the Churches and Government places
starting with the White House?
Are we not suppose to
worry or talk more about how to KEEP ALL the TEN
COMMANDMENTS on an individual basis, rather than mobilize on
how to restore the Ten Commandments to the nations or to
societies i.e. on other unwilling participants? What’s the
biblical justification here for this kind of an approach? Seems
like a lot of references are made to restoring the ‘tradition’.
Who are we to ‘restore’ OUR traditions on those who may not hold
those same traditions? Isn’t the calling of God to only ‘Preach’
and 'Teach' the Gospel’ to those who may freely and willingly
listen? And not expect some kind of government assistance or
enforcement or even some tacit acknowledgement of some Christian
tradition as the preferred religion over others? Does your
practice of religion require some government validation, when
there is already an abundance of freedom to practice and
propagate any or no religion at all? You might say that you do
not want the government to forbid you to practice or express
your religion in the public square as a matter of history and
tradition. Again to counter this argument, I will again simply
point out to the ‘Declaration of Independence’ and also the
Constitution and the
Bill of Rights of the U.S. and say that the Christian
religion or any other religion has not been mentioned to be
given preferred status in the public square where the government
is forced to choose one religion or religious expression above
another! Why should the government be involved when it is not
explicitly forbidding or expressing any individual from
following any religion? And only asking its citizens that it be
not involved in religious expression disputes in public spaces
to keep public order? Further, can the citizenry even agree on
how much religion a government can or should practice? Or
shouldn’t religion and moral issues be left for each individual
to sort out? How can we in good conscience somehow claim that
others follow the dictates of our own conscience in the name of
Christian this and Christian that? Further, it is mentioned that
the Ten Commandments have served as the moral guide to this
nation! Last time I checked, the laws of the U.S. were derived
from many legal traditions including the English and Roman law
and also some from the Bible. Thinking that somehow Christian
laws have a pre-eminent position in the formation of government
policy seems to be preposterous and neither biblical nor
practical.
Please explain how holding or using the
Courts to uphold Christian tradition or Christian laws will lead
to public obedience of an otherwise secular pluralistic society
where there is already freedom to practice any religion, if
moral restoration is your agenda? Further, has this Country been
established as ‘One
Nation under God’?
(note that the phrase 'one nation under
God' was only adopted in the pledge of allegiance by an act of
Congress in 1954 as a way to distinguish from the atheist Soviet
Union after a campaign by the 'Roman Catholic Knights of
Columbus', this phrase was not in the original Pledge composed
by Francis Bellamy, socialist and Baptist Minister, in 1892)
or just one nation established in the
pursuit of equality and justice no matter belief, in the pursuit
of happiness? Also note, that the 'Declaration of Independence'
does not state 'in the pursuit of God or Christianity as this
nation was formed. Also imagine this: One nation under God
watching 'Desperate Housewives'?? I wonder what God must be
thinking? So how are we going stop others form watching what is
not supposed to watched as a 'Christian Nation under God? And
how come there are many other gods permitted to be worshipped by
non Christians? So what about the citizens who either don’t
believe in God or believe in a different god than Jews or
Christians? Which god are they under? Who has the final say on
how God is implemented? How much of the oneness can we
agree upon anyway besides the Geography that binds this country?
It is more accurate to say 'One Nation in Geography', with some
very porous borders I might add. Aren’t we playing fast and
loose with the idea of where to put God in public life by
picking unnecessary fights with those we ought to first find
ways to reach out instead of thoughtless legal threats and
provocations?
- “With
secular humanists waging their attacks at home and the looming
threat from the international radical Islam - people of faith
become the line of defense - this is the "Wall of Jerusalem",
and you are the watchman God placed. “
- My response:
Who are the secular humanists and what are they waging war for
or against? Before I put everyone I disagree with into one box,
it will be very helpful to know what the issues are from every
relevant angle so that an informed decision can be made and a
stand taken, for a fair and reasonable settlement of issues, and
not just based on my own religious fervor of how everything MUST
be. Government works best with collective consent which also
takes into account the well being of all those governed and not
some privileged group claiming pre-eminence in the name of God.
Before we shoot, I hope we can aim and before we go to war, I
hope we can explore biblical solutions like ‘loving our enemies’
and that if that does not work, that we not engage in
retaliatory conduct but work for the general good of all, with
patience and long suffering, taking into account the well being
of all citizens and counting on God for the fulfillment of His
will, in His own time and in His own way! I hope that we do not
forget the lesson Abraham learned when he tried to force the
hand of God to fulfill His promises.
- Those
who care about traditional values cannot passively sit by and
watch the removal of the very principles that made this country
great. The Ten Commandments and what they represent are the
heart of all moral code and must be restored to the heart
of our society.”
- Too often when the term
‘traditional values’ is mentioned it is almost understood to
mean conflicting issues surrounding abortions and homosexuality
and also now the ‘display’ of the Ten commandments and other
favorite ‘moral’ issues. What if my ‘traditional values’ are
much different than yours? For example, I believe in the
separation of church and state, if so, can we work together for
the common good despite our differences? Or engage in a culture
war so to speak? If so, how can I ‘win’ the culture war? What
are the 'weapons' to be used?
Further, what are the
principles that made this country great? Is it the Ten
Commandments only? If so, which of the Ten Commandments and why
not all the Ten Commandments? Were all Ten Commandments followed
at one time or the other? for example, what about the seventh
day Sabbath? If the Ten Commandments are being broken, what are
the penalties and how are they to be ‘enforced’? Further, it is
said that the ‘Ten Commandments are at the heart of ALL moral
Code and MUST be restored to the heart of our society! IT is
so paradoxical first of all to know that very many Christians
believe that the Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross and
now the same people claim that the Ten Commandments still apply
especially as a basis of U.S. civil code? I think the first
issue to be resolved is whether the Ten Commandments have been
really nailed to the cross as many claim and secondly to really
ask if the Ten Commandments are really at the heart of all moral
code of the U.S. by carefully and without bias, reading and
understanding the history of the how this country was formed So,
does the U.S. have a ‘moral code’? I can agree that some laws
were derived from the Ten Commandments, but then to say that
this country has a moral code? and if so whose interpretation of
that moral code? Well, as I said earlier, what is at the heart
of the Declaration of Independence is that all men have been
created equal and endowed with some inalienable rights to pursue
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and no where does it
state that all its citizens MUST now practice the Ten
Commandments or follow some hidden moral code!!
This is
a FREE STATE and a secular Republic and anyone is free to
practice or not practice any religion and no one can be coerced
in the name of God to practice anything! Even though recognition
is made of God as the Creator and that ALL men are created
equal, how much effort has been made to treat ALL men as equal
from the very inception of this country? treating all with
equality also means being considerate of others views despite my
objections to those views, more so when the discussion is about
moral issues!! And then a call is made that we
MUST restore the Ten
Commandments to the heart of our society!!! We Must?Where
in the Bible does it state that the believers MUST restore the
Ten Commandments to any society? If so how?
- I sincerely hope that those
observing the Ten Commandments Day use the occasion to discuss
how best we can KEEP ALL TEN Commandments rather than use
threatening and intimidating language of how WE MUST get others
to recognize or obey God’s law!! The best guardian of God’s law
is yourself when you decide to KEEP ALL TEN Commandments without
change and re-interpretation.
- Many things have been said
and done in the name of God but when Men command or expect
obedience to God from other Men, it most definitely is not of
God and I would dare say that the Spirit of God is not in them.
God commands obedience of those who freely believe in Him but He
has definitely not put any human beings in charge of monitoring
or measuring such obedience. In fact, we are only called upon to
show love for all, from the least of these to the most, nay, ALL
of these we may find despiteful and unworthy of our time and
consideration.
- I hope that as a faith
community, we refrain from threatening retaliation in any form
or manner against politicians and lawmakers who may not agree
with having to enforce our expressions of moral values based on
our own religious beliefs but that we strive to elect and
support individuals who work for the equality and justice of all
citizens and choose those who are honest and work to preserve
all freedoms on which this great country, the U.S.A. was founded
upon. Religion and morality has its place in the public but not
as an instrument of coercion.
- The opinions expressed
above may not change your views but I hope will make you think
so that you will base your views on sound biblical teaching.
What you decide will ultimately decide which camp you and those
you influence are in, for better or for worse. God is not mocked
with symbols and rituals and pledges and publicity stunts or
pious pronouncements but looks at the hearts of men. Look at
this paradox: Take the expression ‘In
God We Trust’ – well, how do we know and whose definition of
God? (f.y.i. this phrase was adopted in 1956 by an act of
Congress, much later since the founding of the U.S.) isn't
trusting God a matter of personal relationship rather than some
corporate or government sanctioned expression? if that be the
case, why have Caesar’s image on the dollar bills? And what
about those who don’t trust in God? How do we know that 'we' as
a nation are really trusting in God? Isn’t trusting or offering
prayer to God a matter of faith and personal choice rather than
some government initiated expression? Isn’t this reducing
God to a meaningless government expression based merely on
tradition rather on an active act of faith? Didn’t Jesus clearly
state to give Caesar's what is Caesar’s? If Jesus wanted His
image to be on the currency of any country, He would have
clearly said so, if some government validation was part of the
plan Salvation. When government is engaged in this form of
religious symbolism, isn’t it taking sides in what is a
religious issue and thus discriminating against those who don’t
hold the same views about God? Isn’t government best neutral on
issues of religion? The pilgrims if I recall came to this
country to escape state mandated religion, so how soon we forget
what principles this country actually was founded on?
God
blessed this country and other countries because of its
citizen’s willingness to respect the freedoms of others and
their willingness to work hard and to treat everyone with
equality and justice. Further, if removing the Ten Commandments
from public displays seems to affect your beliefs in God and His
Final Plans for the Planet, then it is time to ask when did
religious symbols become paramount to practicing true religion?
It almost annoys and deeply concerns me when I see some
Christian groups for example taking issue with those who do not
want to call a ‘Christmas Tree’ a ‘Christmas Tree’ and then
threaten to sue or claim persecution in an effort to get others
to recognize their own personal beliefs. I just wonder if this
energy could be best directed at what God has really called us
to do i.e., to preach and teach and reach out, through dialogue
and reason. It seems like there is a constant tension
portrayed between US and THEM who don’t believe, only furthering
the rift and alienation instead of working toward building
bridges when and where possible.
- In the entire Bible I think
there are only three references made with the word ‘REMEMBER’
i.e., Remember the Sabbath (seventh day) to keep it holy, then
Remember thy Creator in the days of they youth and finally ‘Do
this in Remembrance of Me. To me, the Ten Commandments day
should be an everyday affair culminating with the Sabbath on the
seventh day. Are we ready to do this so that we may be the
examples we may want others to follow?
-
Call To Action:
If you look on their site to see what to do after and in the
context of the Ten Commandments day, you are asked to support
some bills to be enacted in the name of ‘restoring the
constitution’ … “Join with us in
supporting two new bills that that have been introduced to
Congress to protect your religious freedom to acknowledging God
in America. S520 in the Senate and HR1070 in the House of
Representatives.” The context here being is that the
Ten Commandment ‘display’ was removed from a public place and
therefore we must act to reverse this removal and so on. So the
appeal is made to resort to legislation to get 'America to
acknowledge God' in the public arena. And that judges can be
impeached if they forbid acts of acknowledging God in
government/public places by government officials. This sounds
more like an effort towards 'religious authority' than
'religious liberty'. So more legal action over ‘moral’ issues.
- It truly
amazes me to no end that finally the Call to Action is to
get the Ten Commandments display issue back in the public
square. The call to action definitely does not seems to stress a
KEEPING of ALL TEN Commandments! So what am I to make of the
Ten Commandments Day? Unfortunately, another
opportunity lost! Or maybe an opportunity to focus on what
really matters for those who think otherwise? KEEP ALL TEN
may be what the CALL to ACTION should be about. A living
'Display' follows keeping all TEN in your own life. And you
don't need a pin or a monument but your own actions as a living
proof of what God can do.
In God We Trust, IF we obey
all Ten Commands without change or alteration. Some believe
that the U.S. Constitution must be restored to reflect more
accurately its original intent by its founding fathers and that
it i.e., Constitution does not change with time. If that be the
case, why not apply the same reasoning to the Ten Commandments
the way it was originally intended, to begin with? If God wanted
the Ten commandments to be monumentalized, He would have had the
original Ten commandments enshrined on some hill somewhere, so
why are some wanting to do this in places it is not even called
for, thus belittling its importance and its actual place - your
heart?
The preamble of the U.S. Constitution starts with
the words 'We the People..' and not 'We the Christians' or 'We
the Chosen'. This should cause you to think twice if your
mission is to 'restore' the Ten Commandments to the heart of
this or any other nation. The mission is to reach, preach and
teach through love. Restoration is God's work and He has not
called any human being to restore morality to anyone or any
nation. God's been there and done that through the 'chosen', and
it really did not work out in the end.
To me, these kind
of events only signifies the upcoming and final conflict of all
the ages –
The Commandments of Men vs. The Commandments of
God.
Whose will you keep? Do you know
what to be ‘aware’ of on the ‘Awareness Day’ of the Ten
Commandments?
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