July 19, 2007

Umm--God, About That Little Matter----

Until recently, I thought the 3rd commandment meant not swearing by using God's name. As a result, I thought that I habitually broke the 3rd commandment. It's such a common practice today, though, that I thought I'd probably be able to skate if push came to shove-- which I doubted it ever would --since I don't believe in the the vengeful-old-Guy-on-a-throne, anyway.

Recently, though, on the History Channel or somewhere, I saw a documentary that delved deeply into the Ten Commandments and I had an aha! moment.

Having studied ancient history as I have, I feel as if I should have figured this out for myself-- but I never did. The 3rd commandment isn't about not swearing in the name of God. That was common practice back then, too. Only, in those days, it was done in a heartfelt way. People commonly called upon their gods [Yahweh included] to witness the truth of what they were saying. People even called down curses upon themselves should they be forsworn after taking an oath in the name of their deities.

The 3rd commandment was saying, 'Don't bring my name into an oath if you don't intend to keep it.' In other words, don't be forsworn in God's name.
***
Now, fast forward to today:
Our current president-select has done what most presidents before him who didn't wear their faith plastered to their foreheads have managed not to do: he broke the 3rd commandment -- twice.

Twice, while taking the oath of office, he swore to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. He swore this as a solemn pledge before the God he purports to believe in, to honor and to obey. And, even before taking the oath the first time, by stealing the Florida vote, he had already begun dismantling the Constitution-- a task he has been happily engaged in ever since --except, maybe, when on vacation.

He did it on purpose. With malice aforethought, he forswore himself before his God. And, if he believes what he says, he does believe in the vengeful-old-Guy-- and hellfire.
OOPS!

6 comments:

TomCat said...

Hmmmm.... Nice sizzle. Can I get fries with that Bush?

Larry said...

Bush can't even be self righteous without messing it up.

Mary Ellen said...

larry

LOL! Good one.

Two Crows, being the good little Catholic I am(ok-I'm not that good), I 've always taught my kids not to use the the "big G_d-D" as I called it. However, I never thought saying Oh my God was breaking the third commandment. It is just an expression. Also, I've always told my kids that the 3rd Commandment meant that using God's name in vain was using God as a tool to get what you want, i.e. "God told me to go to war with so and so" or "God spoke to me and he said that so and so is going to hell".

Great post, btw. I'll have to look for the re-run on that show.

(Note: geez, the word verification is getting longer and longer. I practically had to type the whole alphabet this time)

two crows said...

hey, TC--
what a mind-picture.
xxx
hadn't thought of it that way, larry. I'm with
m e-- hee hee hee! :D
xxx
and, me--
as to believing that saying, 'Oh, God!' is breaking the 3rd commandment -- maybe it's a baptist thing.
wouldn't be surprised.

yours a good interpretation. and one that's very pertinent today -- remember Oral Roberts threatening that God told him he would die if he didn't get so much money by thus-and-such a date?
and, boy-howdy, did folks cough up. came the deadline, he didn't have enough and, surprise, surprise, God didn't keep his [sic] promise.

Bush's insistence that God wanted him to be prez is at least as bad. and has done far more damage.
and the way he got it shows how little faith he has. if God wanted it so badly, he [sic] could've made it happen without help from Bush's brother and the Supremes, right?

I _still_ hold my conviction: 'you talk to God, that's prayer. God talks to you, that's schizophrenia.'
^^^
so sorry about the verification. I hated turning it on but, these days, it's that or possibly wait hours to get your comment posted.
I wish there was another way. or that spammers would go get their own lives and leave the rest of us alone.

Mary Ellen said...

Two Crows
I _still_ hold my conviction: 'you talk to God, that's prayer. God talks to you, that's schizophrenia.'

Do you mean God didn't tell me to start a blog? Man...thought I was racking up points for heaven. Oh well....I supposed there aren't going to be 70 hot French guys waiting for me in heaven either. :-(

two crows said...

LOL!!
oh, m e--
I do love your posts! :D

sorry about the French dudes. but, in your heart- of- hearts you knew it was too good to be true, right?