Skip to main content

Why the Ten Commandments are for atheists, too

The Second Commandment:
You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.
  
"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will make me go in a corner and cry by myself for hours."
-Eric Idle  

             Words matter.
A man is hanging a picture.  His hand slips and his finger shifts in front of the hammer.  Instead of hitting the nail, he hits his thumb.  “Jesus Christ!” he shouts. 
              He could have said a lot worse.  I have actually had this discussion with nonbelievers who see absolutely no reason why they should refrain from using such expressions.  Their attitudes usually soften when I point out that such language might offend people.  They also usually concede that such expressions should not be used around children. 
              But can we look beyond expressions of anger or surprise?  A friend of mine who is a Catholic priest would routinely use expressions with the Lord’s name, explaining that this is a form of prayer.  Whatever you say, Father.  He would point out that the real danger in taking the Lord’s name in vain is the false oath.  Consider the following, which all of us have heard in one form or another:
              I swear to God if you don’ t call me later, I’ll kill you.
              To be fair, almost nothing in this sentence is meant to be taken literally.  No one is swearing to God and no one’s life is in danger.  The only thing the speaker is trying to say is that he really wants a phone call later.  But why do we choose these words to get our point across?  Isn’t there a less extreme way to say the same thing?  Can’t believers and nonbelievers alike see the problem?  We’re making an oath to God in the mundane routines of daily life.
And what kind of people are we that we must swear to God to convince others that we’re telling the truth?  Jesus speaks very clearly on this topic.  “Let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no.’  Anything else comes from the evil one.”  True!
              Despite this very clear instruction, there are times when we have agreed as a people that sacred oaths are appropriate.  In our society, we generally invoke God’s name when taking an oath in court, or taking vows of marriage, or even public office.  These are important events.  Making sure a friend calls us later is important, but maybe we should rethink the words we use. 
              So what can a nonbeliever take from this?  I think at the very least we can agree that this Commandment points out that words do matter.  They matter a lot.  Words can be vicious and hurtful words can to stay with us for years, even decades.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why the Ten Commandments are for atheists, too The First Commandment      There is a natural divide between the first three and the last seven commandments.  While seven through ten take aim at how people should treat each other, the first three are much more concerned with humanity's relationship with God. Because of this, these are commandments that atheists and agnostics would typically have little interest in.  However, after some reflection (even prayer), it becomes clear that these three can help lead anyone, believer or nonbeliever, in a positive direction.      Let's have a look... I, the Lord, am your God … You shall not have other gods besides me. I live in Wilmington, Delaware. About ten years ago, there was a frightening pattern of violence in our city that had been sparked by drug deals and territorial strife. I opened the newspaper one Sunday and read an interview with a terribly depressed woman who had lost several of h...
2 comments
Read more

Ten Things You Didn't Know About the Catholic Church

1.   Secret Cardinals The College of Cardinals is made up of about 120 senior bishops from around the world whom the Pope has chosen to elect his replacement.   Upon the death or resignation of the Pope, they meet in Rome to elect a new one, almost always from among their own ranks.   Only cardinals under the age of 80 may vote.   However, what most people don’t know is that there are a handful of bishops throughout the world whom the pope has secretly chosen as cardinals.   For a variety of reasons, usually out of concern for security, the Pope chooses not to reveal their names, sometimes even to the men themselves.   This is most common when the cardinal resides in a country where he may face reprisals from his government or face other types of persecution.   The late Pope John Paul II secretly elevated four bishops to cardinals.   One of them was from China, another from Latvia, and one from Ukraine. Their identities were revealed near or a...
1 comment
Read more

The day Joe Biden visited my social studies class

I had just hung up the phone in the main office when I got the word: “She wants to see you.”  "She" was the principal.  I was actually excited to speak to her. I had just gotten off the phone with Senator Joe Biden’s office.  Everything was set for tomorrow.  He would be speaking to my eighth-grade social studies class.  In fact, we were going to be cramming both classes into one room. In 2003, social distancing was unheard of.   His office had asked me who would be introducing him. I would, of course. “The senator will speak for exactly 30 minutes, then take questions for 15 minutes,” the woman had said. “When he arrives at your school, someone should immediately direct him to the room where he will speak.” “Got it,” I said. I was excited to tell the principal as I walked into her office, but she was clearly not in the mood to hear me gloat about my special visitor. She asked me to sit down. She removed her glasses and massaged the space between her ...
Post a Comment
Read more