Billy Graham: 10 Commandments

QUESTION: Why should I follow the Ten Commandments? Maybe they were useful thousands of years ago, but we live in a different world now, and we need to come up with our own rules for living. — W.R.

Correct, this is a different world, but were the Ten Commandments ever that special to begin with?

ANSWER: Have you ever actually studied the Ten Commandments thoughtfully and carefully? (You can find them in Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5.) If you do, you might be surprised how relevant and up-to-date they are, even if you don’t agree with some of them.

In other words, which of them would you do away with, if you could? Would you do away with the commandments forbidding murder, or lying, or stealing? Would you do away with the commandment forbidding greed? I doubt if you’d want to do away with any of these, because no society can be peaceful and harmonious without them.

Commandment forbidding greed? I must have missed that one... Or does Billy think that 'coveting your neighbor's possessions' somehow translates as greed. Sorry, but wanting something doesn't make you greedy. Is Billy suggesting that admiring things is greed? What about those that are needy?
According to Billy, they are greedy since they want for things that they don't have.

True, murder, lying, and stealing are bad things. But how is their inclusion in this list supposed to be revolutionary? These are obvious conclusions that people arrive at naturally. In fact, these truths were known far before the supposed creation of this list of 'divine commands'.

Also, what about the fact that the very god that supposedly handed out the ruling not to kill also commanded and committed murder indiscriminately (according to the Bible)?

Perhaps, however, you’d like to do away with some of the other commandments, such as those that demand we put God first in our lives

I would certainly dump those from the list in a heartbeat. What does it say that four out of this top ten list are concerned only with God and worshiping him? Does this not stink of desperation or a hunger for control? Why the need for such repetition? Does hammering that he is God and that we should worship him really needed if any of it was true? At least it's consistent in a way since space on this list is also wasted on the 'false witness' commandment. Isn't that covered by the 'lying' commandment, rendering it's inclusion unnecessary?

The real issue for you, however, is this: What place does God have in your life?

No, not even close... The real issue here is that for a list that was supposed to have been created by the all-powerful, all-knowing God of everything, it is so shockingly bad. Why was 'don't torture people' left out? What about treating all people with equal rights and dignity? What about denouncing racism and all other prejudices? How about 'thou shalt not rape'? Slavery should be very obvious. God could have expressly disallowed owning other human beings as if they were property instead of condoning it. But he didn't.

Just stop and look at those excluded entries (and others I'm sure popped into your mind) and realize that they were all left out in favor of not working on a Sunday or carving a statue. What does it say about the priorities and nature of a god that thinks that these petty rules are more important than a woman being raped? It sure doesn't leave me with a pleasant impression...

-Brain Hulk

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