Commandment #10

Commandment #10 - Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shall not covet they neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is thy neighbor’s.

I wonder if this is where sex out of wedlock comes in. If so then prostitution (mistresses and gigolos) would be included along with all premarital sex. If it doesn’t then I didn’t find prostitution to be a commandment violation. Arranged marriages or human trafficking may also be considered a violation of this commandment. I’m pretty sure this covers stalking so all paparazzi taking unapproved photos would fall into violating this commandment. I also believe that wanting to ’keep up with the Jones’ when you cannot afford it is wrong and this happens a lot. People are getting fancy gadgets because they’re popular and someone around them has one. This would also mean that desiring things that you feel you are due, even via inheritance, is a violation if it is not willingly given.

We have laws regarding stalking. However, poor laws allow people to purchase things they cannot afford. We need to put back the regulations that were in effect years ago that stopped people from buying houses and other things they can’t afford and do something with our bankruptcy laws before we can stop this from happening. 

Commandment #9

Commandment #9 - Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

We need to encourage people to tell the truth. Children need to learn at an early age that lying/dishonesty is wrong.  A lie is a lie if intended to hurt or deceive. A white lie (e.g., saying someone’s clothes are nice when you don’t think so) may not be a commandment violation as these are usually told solely to a person and spoken as your opinion only. However every sham, bogus, phony, forged, or pretend actions violate this commandment. And, when you say you are innocent and you’re not, you’re bearing false witness against your accuser. This commandment does not mean to exclude you from being a witness – just false witness, a liar.  

In the 1992 Star Trek the Next Generation episode First Duty, Wesley Crusher’s academy team conducted an illegal maneuver and a cadet died. Each member of the team had to testify at the investigative hearing. After Wesley testified, Captain Picard says to him – you told the truth up to a point, but a lie of omission is still a lie. The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth. It is the guiding principle upon which Starfleet is based. After his discussion with Picard, Wes’ team leader told him that there was no evidence and therefore no case, that he and the others had no problem with keeping the secret, and Wes should lose his career to protect the team as they shouldn’t have to pay for his guilty conscience. In the end, Wes did tell the truth. There have been a lot of science fiction things to come true; I hope this will become our standard of living.

The government attempts to support this commandment with perjury and other laws that we very often don’t enforce and lawyers sometimes persuade an individual to lie via an act of omission in order to win a case. We’ve all heard the saying ‘the truth will set you free’. Unfortunately only decent people want to be set free; evil doers, which include those encouraging deceit, do not as it would make them good. 

Commandment #8

Commandment #8 - Thou shall not steal.

I believe that all that is not yours therefore belongs to someone else. On November 9, 2011 on The View I heard that almost 80% of thieves say they use social media to help steal; they can go to GoogleMap to figure out where you live and Facebook or Twitter to find out when you’re not at home. I understand that people have a need to be social but it’s backfiring. There is no privacy anymore and the more information you put out on the internet the more you help the criminal steal from you; your identity and/or your property. 

Taking what is not honestly earned is stealing no matter what the reason. This commandment would include Ponzi schemes and any venture that is derived by fraud. I believe that it would also include destroying someone’s property as you took its use away from him/her. In my opinion, if someone hires you to do a job and you don’t do it or finish it, it is stealing. If someone says ‘no’ to sex and you rape him/her it is stealing. If you borrow something and don’t return it, it is stealing. This might also include kidnapping, human trafficking and black market sales. Items such as watches, handbags and more have copyrights and therefore are owned by their creators. It is stealing if you manufacture these items and if you purchase one of these items, you are guilty of buying stolen property. It is said that human trafficking and terrorism is funded by these purchases. If these issues are not covered here then I’m assuming they’re covered in commandment #10.

Except for the bankruptcy laws allowing legalized stealing, we pretty much have this covered.  

Commandment #7

Commandment #7 - Thou shall not commit adultery.

Our general belief is that adultery is limited to sexual activity of an illicit or extramarital nature and would include immodest, non-virtuous, and impure behavior. First I thought this did not include the act of polygamy if all partners agreed to the inclusion of another wife, there would be no deceit. But, I decided that all sexual encounters outside of marriage, including internet photographs and sexting (84% of GMA’s poll said sexting is cheating) as well as pornography and polygamy if not included here, is included in commandment #10. The modern adultery term includes behaviors of infidelity, disloyalty, falseness, (dishonesty/lying), treachery (fraud, deception, or treason), deceit, or faithlessness which are also included in other commandments. Since this commandment is not specific in limiting the cheating or betrayal to a partner, I believe modern adultery to include acts against anyone including God. 

We don’t prosecute adulterers cheating on their partners. However, in 1879 the Supreme Court decided to ban polygamy saying – It may be a religious practice but it doesn’t deserve Constitutional protection anymore than human sacrifice. I’m okay with this as I think polygamy violates either this or the 10^th commandment. We have the TV polygamist and others that aren’t arrested until someone gets away from the group and yells about child abuse or some other crime. Some wives of polygamists are saying there is no happy polygamist relationship for a woman. I know that the government identifies religious groups that are acceptable tax donations and I don’t know if any of these are on the radar. I find it difficult to believe that there is no way to determine if such a group exists prior to someone going to the police. I know we have laws against human trafficking and my thought is that if polygamy becomes legal there may be more forced relationships.    

Commandment #6

Commandment #6 - Thou shall not kill.

All of God’s creations kill to survive; even a plant takes from the soil. I believe that this commandment is intended to mean that we shall not murder. If my opinion is valid, then defending yourself or what is yours, an accidental death or killing for food is not wrong. Killing for sport however is. The bible has stories of God putting people to death, e.g., he gave Moses the power to part the Red Sea and drown the Egyptians that followed him and God caused Noah’s floods, to protect and/or identify followers. I believe that every one of us has an opportunity to be an angel of God’s and as such has an obligation to eliminate evil and survive (if we are following the Commandments).

On November 23, 2011 the Oregon Governor ordered a halt to executions as he is morally against the death penalty. I believe that in following the Commandments, we are allowed to protect ourselves from evil. Therefore, we can support a death penalty for those who murder or take life by other means, e.g., rape, molestation. We must stop condoning and excusing evil behavior by giving criminals life with all the amenities except the freedom to roam. I’m not saying not to forgive someone for the crime committed as forgiveness allows us to move on with our lives. I’m saying that the right to show mercy belongs to God as stated in Commandment #2.

By the way, I believe that the verdict of innocent due to insanity is a contradiction. Guilty due to insanity is more appropriate as this would justify the institutionalizing of criminals. Guilty due to insanity would prohibit the devious phonies from being supposedly cured and released back into society. Additionally, it would deter psychiatrics from using their power of persuasion to manipulate the system and reduce an incident to a minor uncontrollable event that further degrades the victims.

Suicide is not condoned by our government as numerous and costly preventative measures are pursued. However, I believe a suicide should be an issue between a person and his/her religion. It’s obvious that suicide is not against all religions as there are many suicide bombers.

The moral question of abortion addresses your belief of whether an embryo is a child or a seed. I’m going to seem hypocritical in this issue but here goes. As we have birthdays on the day a child is born, I lean toward an embryo being a seed. This concept is consistent with the November 9, 2011 Good Morning American report that Mississippi voters rejected a bill that would have defined life at conception. Another consideration would be how the embryo was conceived. Women should not be required to keep an unwanted embryo conceived as the result of a crime. However, I do consider the embryo a child if it is wanted and harmed in a crime. I do not believe that this should be a state issue but a federal one and I believe the government was correct in its decision in Roe versus Wade.

In addition to murder and abortions, I also believe that this commandment covers our destruction of the earth; the elimination of species, trees, etc. as well as using up the earth’s resources due to over population. We should remember that when God said go forth and multiply it was at a time when there were few people on this earth.  

Housing criminals is draining many state budgets. A consensus of 12 people is required to convict. We all know how hard it is to get a few people to agree on anything. With such a requirement and with DNA evidence being used since 1996, when a person is found guilty of a horrific crime, there should be no doubt about using the death penalty and a sentencing hearing should be unnecessary. I believe that forgiveness for a criminal does not give you points with God and should not be used for lesser sentencing (case in point, a bible verse in Deuteronomy 19 calls for an eye for an eye).     

Commandment #5

Commandment #5 - Honor thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God gives thee.

I believe bad parents (those that abuse, hide/support their children’s crimes, do not live by and teach their children the Commandments) should not be supported. My problem is that our society and government are not supporting good parents. I’m not saying our children should be abused. But, I do believe our children must be held accountable for their actions as they grow. Children and/or their friends are killing, maiming and embarrassing parents. With our current thinking it’s not a surprise that crimes are committed by younger and younger children and crime rates have increased. Unless proven otherwise, graffiti, skipping school and all actions committed by a child should be answerable by the child, not the parent, in order to instill the knowledge of right from wrong (morality which I believe stems from living by the Commandments).

We give too much to the younger generation and not enough to the elders that made this country. Many parents are not properly taken care of when they can no longer take care of themselves. It’s being said that the cost of caring for an elderly parent costs $303,880 in a lifetime. People doing so should be rewarded by the government and have all such expenses considered a deduction on their taxes. Additionally, the government keeps manipulating the Social Security money and medical assistance they need.  

Commandment #4

Commandment #4 - Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shall not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

I hear that only 17% of the US population says it does not have a religion yet many stores and restaurants are open 7 days a week. As long as the same individual is not working 7 days a week and their working does not conflict with his/her Sabbath, this commandment is not violated. However, truckers will drive long hauls 7 days a week and others do not work at all. To take this further, there’s 24 hours in a day, minus the 8 for sleeping this means a person could work 16 hours a day. For the average adult, there is the family (includes playing/talking with them), household upkeep, education and/or exercise that can occupy the time after work. For children, there is school, homework and chores that should be done. A person working 6 days at a job should not feel that he/she is entitled to let the family and/or household go unless the job (includes getting ready and travelling to it) occupies the full 16 hour days. God does not excuse us from doing all that needs to be done. He is saying to take a day off and remember him. Unfortunately, I believe that most Americans are too occupied with sports, electronics and other pleasures to fulfill this commandment.  

A recent study shows that Americans work 5 weeks more than the people in other developed countries and 35% are working on week-ends. We’re not very good at supporting this commandment.