Religion

Those of you who know me know that I'm not a religious person. Yeah, I live with a minister's son, but I don't think he's been to church in quite a while. I do, however, have a respect for religion when those who practice are principled and actually catch the spirit of their religion's teachings. I found this at the April 1, 2005 Portland Press Herald via DailyKos. I don't think the page will remain up, so I copied over. Hope this isn't a violation of copywrite:

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Don`t post commandments; live them

Should our government endorse one particular religion's precepts?

Be careful what you ask for. If we took the Ten Commandments seriously, our way of life would be radically challenged - as it should be. Consider just five of them:

Keep the Sabbath holy? In Maine, car dealerships have to fight public opinion to keep the day off. L.L. Bean never sleeps. Sports scheduling in the public schools often precludes attending church schools.

Thou shalt not kill? Would you post that in the Pentagon? What about the embargo that killed 500,000 Iraqi children? Or countenancing genocide in the Sudan? Only the Quakers take nonviolence seriously.

Thou shalt not steal? Should the government have posted that at Enron? Or nailed it in the halls of every American corporation? Would it make any difference?

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor? What's that again about Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction?

Thou shalt not covet any thing that is thy neighbor's? Tell that to Native Americans. That's how we've succeeded in life. Why do we attempt to overthrow, bribe or invade other nations when the issue is oil? A little coveting?

From my perspective, I would not want the Ten Commandments placed in the public domain, posturing as the symbol of an unapplied faith, honored in the breach.

I would rather they be proclaimed and nurtured by churches and synagogues who, exercising their religious freedom, take them seriously enough to call us to task.

Rev. Glenn H. Turner
New Gloucester
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