Rightwords... Prudent Conservatism

Fudging the Rules


Most Christians, I think, have no trouble following the first few commandments: love God; do not worship false idols; and, do not take the Lord's name in vain -- although cursing with God's name is still a widespread but probably thoughtless act. Then too, honoring one's Father and Mother is a norm not often breached, and using Sunday as a rest day is traditional in the US.

It is the last five, not to kill, not to lie, not to covet, not to commit adultery, and not to steal where there seems to be considerable difficulty. Take "Thou shalt not kill," for example. Right off we have several exceptions to account for, including: the death penalty; killing in self-defense; and killing in a just war. These exceptions have been agreed to and placed into law by most Christian societies for several centuries now. But the controversies about the death penalty and "just wars" go on and on, fueled predominantly by very small but vocal groups of religious zealots on the far Right or far Left, and by the Supreme Court, which finds itself influenced by European secularist views.

Now we come to abortion, mercy killing and euthanasia. We have strong advocacy for each one of these acts in the US. But, they are un-Christian, even if one of them, abortion, is legal at this time. The 85% Christian majority in this nation would vote against legal abortion on demand if given the chance. Most of us were horrified at the Dutch practice of killing babies and children up the the age of 12, if, in the judgement of doctors, they didn't have a chance to have a good life.
Christians know that a Hospice has a better solution than legalized mercy killing or euthanasia.

Bearing false witness, or lying, is with us every day. Bending the truth to their will is a practiced art on the Left. They are able to make white look black on any issue, given a little think time.
It is one thing to have a contrary opinion and to argue forcefully for it. But it is another thing to mislead the public in order to defeat the opposition. This the Democrats did (or rather tried to do) for well over a year during the 2004 election cycle. You may recall that anything that happened was Bush's fault, from too slow an economic recovery to bombs in Bagdad, to too much hot weather, or too much rain in California or Ohio.

One wonders how those people can keep a straight face when telling their whoppers. This is certainly one reason that many Leftists don't sign up to the ten commandments: they would be muzzled by their own beliefs. Or else they are hypocrites who leave their politics at the church door.

Coveting and adultery are two more reasons for the Left to sway from the 10C. They covet your money in the form of taxes on order to spend it on things they think are needed. And they do have a lust for women (or men) when "campaigning". Anyone that has been around a campaign headquarters knows the powerful aphrodisiac that politics with booze provides. Thus adultery is not uncommon there too; another reason for Leftists to shed the constraints of 10C.

Stealing is not an overt act for most Christians. They value property and ownership too much for that. Of course, it is against the law. But there are obviously some that do stray. Very dramatically at that! Secularists, for instance, want to steal our government, rewrite the Constitution, and give away our sovereignty. They don't own these things; the people do! Thieves!

So it is not surprising when a Leftist or a Secularist disavows the ten commandments, besides the obvious reason that they are non-believers in God. They would not know what to do with themselves otherwise! Or maybe they would! What's a little lying, thievery, adultery, and coveting among friends?

# posted by Mannning @ 9:56 PM