Monday, April 04, 2005

enough already

Enough of this ungodly preoccupation with the Ten Commandments.

Anybody as fixated on the Ten Commandments as your run of the mill American Evangelical can't possibly have read the whole book…or Kurt Vonnegut.

" For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that’s Moses, not Jesus. I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere.

“'Blessed are the merciful' in a courtroom? 'Blessed are the peacemakers' in the Pentagon? Give me a break!"+

OK, that hurt a little.

And then some clown says to find out what the Bible says about the Ten Commandments -- as distinct from just reading the list -- I'd have to read the whole thing. Seriously? Are you kidding? I haven't even read the Left Behind books! Enough already!

+ Kurt Vonnegut, "Cold Turkey," May 10, 2004, In These Times.

1 comment:

macromayhem said...

Right on!!

It's pretty clear that Focus on the Family, is pretty focused. Just not on a positive open message. Gah!