3 out of 10 ?

A friend told me the old joke about God trying to interest some people in his Commandments. He was not having much luck until he met an Israelite, who, when told that these commandments were for free, said: "In this case gimme ten".

I must have heard this joke 50 or more years ago, but, being a courteous man I listened to the very end and then dutifully laughed and said: "That's a good one".

Through this hackneyed story, I became interested in the subject, since I had not given it much thought lately, and started to read up on the 10 Commandments in the "Catechism of the Catholic Church".

Exodus 20 2-17

Right off the bat, God tells the Israelites that
"I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage".

Here, God tells his people not to forget who he is. He is counting on their gratitude, since he has "brought them out of the house of bondage.

He then continues to fortify his singular position amongst the people:
"You shall have no other Gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth."
 Does that mean that all the pictures you may see in every Catholic church are a transgression of this Commandment? Surely one cannot miss the pictures of an elderly gentleman with a flowing white beard !
And since it is clearly stated elsewhere that Jesus is, at the same time, the Son of God, as well as God himself, the display of him languishing and dying on a cross absolutely must fall in the prohibition  expressed above.

The prohibition not to make a graven image of anything that is "in" the earth or in the water "under" the earth would surely condemn every painter and sculpturer whose work graces every church, museum, art gallery and most homes. ( I am not sure of the meaning of "in" instead of "on", nor of the expression: ...in the water "under" the earth.) Certainly every Church I have ever visited is jam packed full of transgression of this commandment.

"You shall not bow down to them or serve them."
This seems to forbid the adoration of such "graven images", while the foregoing forbids the very "making" of such likenesses.

"For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God"

Once again he reminds the people of his standing: "I the Lord, your God"
And now He reveals a very human weakness: ...
I am a jealous God...
Do I get something wrong here ? 'Jealousy' surely is a result of a feeling of inadequacy.
Why would I be jealous of another man, because my Wife, my Beloved seems to pay attention to him ?
If I felt certain of myself, certain of my qualities (in the case of the Lord "superior" qualities) then the very human feeling of jealousy, coupled with a fear of losing my Wife, my Beloved, would never arise.
So why would the Lord be "jealous" ? Or is there another interpretation of the word ?

"visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me"

For a moment I feared that 'iniquity' is something which can be inherited, stuck in the genes, but No, every dictionary tells me it means 'wickedness, immorality, evil' and a few more of that ilk.
So, our "all loving" "all forgiving"  "All Just" Lord, our God, will take a man's transgressions out on his children, grand children, great grand children and great great grand children. He, the jealous one will seek revenge on the fourth generation after the sinner, although they may be as pure as the driven snow and may lead an exemplary Christian Life. 

"but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments."

So there you have it: The Lord, God, the Creator loves his creation very very conditionally.
In His book there is no 'unconditional love'.
If you're good, and that means if you do as He says, he will show you "steadfast love"
But if you're bad, forget it ! The Lord's vengeance will reach out not only for you but for all your yet unborn children and children's children... and so on... Is this what we call "Justice"?

"You shall  not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain."

So, if I hit my thumb with a hammer, I must not ever cry out: Jeeeesus Chriiist.

Seriously though, this commandment again speaks of the vanity, jealousy, and self centered attitude of the Christian God.
I believe that the Lord of the Bible has all these human attributes, because the Book was written by men, who probably asked themselves: How would I feel ? What would I do ? 

"Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work.
but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord, your God...

There is more to this commandment. Details, details, but it is a little like this: 
I, The Lord, your god, rested on the seventh day, and so shall you.!

So far we have heard how Great  I am and how you must adore me or else.
It has all been about Me, Me, Me

The rest of the commandments, almost after thoughts, are about some of the things we must do or  not do because they would hurt our neighbours:
Honour your parents, don't kill, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't  lie, don't make eyes at your neighbours mate....
and there is an interesting point: The commandment actually says:

"You shall not covet your neighbours wife"

What about coveting your neighbour's HUSBAND ?

It seems that according to those commandments it's perfectly Okay for a woman-neighbour, to have the hots for her male neighbour.  Isn't that precious ?
Just another example that this Book was written by a bunch of guys on a lazy Sabbath afternoon.

I find it interesting that there is no suggestion in the 10 commandments that we should 
"do unto our neighbours as we would wish them to do unto us."
that would pretty well wrap it up.
so thinks

Bertstravels.