The Ten Commandments Revisited

Anon

In light of passage last week by the House of Representatives of legislation allowing display of the Ten Commandments in schools, we decided to draw up our own list of commandments:

1. Thou shalt not trivialize the Ten Commandments by using them for political purposes.
   
2. Thou shalt not violate the constitutional separation of church and state.
   
3. Thou shalt not seek to intimidate or embarrass any student whose religious belief might be different from those of the majority of students.
   
4. Thou shalt not seek to establish or promote a state religion even in ways that seem to some as small and benign.
   
5. Thou shalt not claim that posting religious creeds such as the Ten Commandments will prevent terrible instances of school violence such as the Columbine killings, which involve deep and complex causes.
   
6. Thou shalt not embrace cosmetic or symbolic solutions, thereby ignoring real solutions to difficult and pressing problems.
   
7. Thou shal not equate, or confuse, putting up posters with changing the moral fabric of the nation for the better.
   
8. Thou shalt not pretend that God is supported of your political party. She may be hedging her bets.
   
9. Thou shalt not attempt to turn the nation's schools into a real life version of George Orwell's "Animal Farms" with its totalitarian slogans.
   
10. Thou shalt not commit acts of gross stupidity in the name of religion, morality, pandering or polls.