|
|
|
Because the 10 commandments have practically been a part of my life since I was a little child, I have not spent much time contemplating on them. As with so many aspects of my faith I have just accepted the 10 commandments as given, as a fact of life, as if they had been there forever. I have spent more time pondering them recently due to the media attention of having the 10 commandments displayed in public buildings. I had to shed my previous assumptions and review exactly what the 10 commandments are and why someone may be offended seeing them in print. I had to stop and reflect if I had just accepted without questions something that may be offensive just because it has always been there in my life. After thinking about each of the 10 commandments I have arrived at the conclusion that for me they are not offensive. I would not feel discriminated against or violated in any way seeing them in print. The message with each of them is transparent to me and in general I feel they provide me with a good guide on how to conduct my life in a decent and courteous way. I respect others rights to have differing beliefs and embrace the fact that not everyone has the same set of beliefs that I have. In fact I think life would be boring if we did all think the same and had the same beliefs. Without diversity, life would not have all those multi-color charm and exoticness. I have to admit that trying to recall the 10 commandments in the right order was a true test of memory. I could remember all of them but trying to get the middle ones in the right order was quite a challenge. I mentioned this to my husband and he could not understand why being in a particular order mattered at all. I thought he had a good point that it was not really important what order I remember them in or what exact wording I used to articulate them, it was the core idea underlining each of the 10 commandments that was the true meaningful message that we are to take to heart. Although I comprehend that we are not all from the same belief system, I still cannot understand why someone would be offended by seeing the 10 commandments in print. There are many billboards and bus advertisements out there that I find disagreeable or offensive, but I know there are others who have opposing opinions. If I find something offensive I try to look at something that is more appealing to me. We do not all need to believe the same things and in order to co-exist , we do not even need to understand each others beliefs, we just need to learn tolerance. Hey, maybe I just came up with the 11th commandment! In fact, it can be any number. Ive already told you order doesnt matter. |
加入最爱