Now that election-time madness is in high gear, I'm amazed how normally decent, considerate political aspirants can resort to using vindictive half-truths and innuendoes as they and their supporters badmouth their opponents.
I'm especially amazed when ancient Biblical dogma is used to gain political advantage. In Leviticus we find virtually every form of sexual deviation and what the merciful God of Abraham will do to anyone found guilty of such practices.
We all know the story of Moses and his trip into the mountains, where he spent 40 days and nights without food or drink. While there, his spiritual God of Abraham, disguised as a burning bush, chiseled the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone. Let's look at the Ten Commandments which many fundamentalists want displayed on public buildings.
The Protestant and Catholic version of the first commandment has to do with not having any gods before him, while the original has to do with the Hebrew exodus out of Egyptian slavery. In the second commandment, both the Hebrew and Protestant versions are similar about not bowing down to graven images. The Catholic version has to do with taking the name of God in vain.
In the third commandment, both the Hebrew and Protestant versions agree about taking the name of God in vain, while the Catholic version has to do with keeping the Sabbath. In the fourth commandment, both the Hebrew and Protestant version agree about keeping the Sabbath and not doing any work, while the Catholic version has to do with honoring your father and mother.
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Four of the next six commandments have to do with killing, stealing, bearing false witness, and committing adultery, are exactly the same in context but different numerically. In the ninth commandment, the Catholic version has to do with not coveting your neighbor's wife, while the tenth commandment covers everything belonging to your neighbor.
It's been said that religion and reason are not compatible, so it seems to me that if someone is going to quote any one of the commandments, the original Hebrew version should be used inasmuch as both Abraham and Moses were Hebrew, weren't they?
Don Skimland
Sunburg
