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August 05, 2006
Which 10?
I am always amused when I hear someone tell me that (paraphrasing) the 10 commandments are part of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and as such can be put up as a reminder of “our” proud heritage. Except for one thing: Catholics, Protestants and Jews each have a different version of the commandments!
Are they substantively similar? Yes. Catholics get to have all the graven idols they want, but everything else seems about the same. Nonetheless, the wording on each of these is fairly specific—for a school to put up one version is to deny the others. The State (through the school) is therefore implicitly taking the side of Catholics, Protestants, or (unlikely) Jews over the others. Not to mention that by deciding to include some version of the "Judeo-Christian" commandments it is excluding things like the Wiccan Rede, or the 5 pillars of Islam...
Now, I can see some fundamentalists not minding putting their own values above that of Muslims or Pagans. Having "Popish" values placed above their own might cause a quick rethink of the debate, however...
Posted by Andrew at August 5, 2006 02:04 PM
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