Stating and Displaying the Obvious, and the Petty

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS is among the most iconic, cherished documents in human history, possibly for the very reason which makes them more appealing to people of modest intellectual discernment but far less profound and useful than many other supposedly sacred but less publicized sets of guidelines. They derive from the "Code of Hammurabi", the first known such list of regulations and restirictions, whose origins are in Mesopotamia,the geographic origin of western civilization itself. The harshness, the crude simplicity, the rigidity, the obvious needlessness of restatement nature is apparant in both law codes. The first four comandments are easily, arguably nothing more than the petulant exclamations of a petty, tyrannical, insecure deity, the "Word" of a primitive, barbaric God. I am the only God. Do not worship any other gods, fabricated, invented,imaginary or otherwise. Do not create art. Keep sacred the day I, your all powerful creater, stopped creating to take a rest. Is the Almighty one true God really concerned about potential competition from a god which does not exist? Is the one true, exant god of the universe, all powerful and all knowing, concerned about the existence of less omnipotent entities who might be mistaken for gods? The final six commandments are nothing but common sense, common sense which is evident, inherently, to anyone who lives in a group of people, paleolthic or neolithic,but especially neolithic, in which material possessions and proprietary rights take on added signifigance, because of their accumulation and acquired value. In human groupings, people insist on keeping what belongs to them, and insist on an understanding among all group members that stealing from others is forbidden. What parent since the advent of animal life on this planet has not clearly indicated to his or her children that the kids had damned well better honor and obey their parents? Again, a statement of the long obvious. Such a commonly understood law allows us all to sleep at night, and to leave our goods unguarded, though behind locked doors,during daylight houre when we are away from home, working, working to obtain the means by which to obtain...more material goods, espeially food, clothing, and shelter. Surely such an already long deeply engraved understanding within us all needs not extra attention or public display. Again, its mere common sense. Thou shalt not kill. Another statement of the obvious, another law we already knew and have long known. This law elevates us, albeit barely, above the rest of the animal kingdom, and makes us, in a certain sense, "cililized". Much more worthy of public display are the nine beatitudes from the Sermon On the Mount, which give us more advanced, enlightened, and far less common wisdom. More worthy, and thus, less qualified, by American standards. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the meek. These beautiful beatitudes are so surpassingly beautiful that they are more remindful of more enlightened easetern philosophical traditions than of harsh, primitive, barbaric western religious ones. But how long will we wait unitl "blessed are the peacemakers" or blessed are the meek" or "blessed are the merciful" appear on public monuments to political and military leaders in these United States of Aggression? On the walls of the Pentagon, perhaps? Doubtful. As for public school walls, harsh instructions are deemed far more effective in keeping kids obedient than instructions advising peacemaking, humility, and mercy. You can imagine a misbehaving student, about to be disciplined, pointing to the word "merciful" just above the standardized encircling alphabet. But, make room, make room! More on their merry way. There are no fewer than seventy five commandments in the Islamic religion, and no fewer than six hundred and thirteen in the Judaic code. Our public school walls are going to be very, very crowded with words.