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Of Decalogues and Decadence
Posted By Stefan Monsaureus
Once again, the U.S. Supreme Court is called upon, one hopes, to defend the separation of church and state. Rather than a substantive issue, though, the latest refinement of judicial thought will be brought to bear on the public display of one or another version of the Ten Commandments of Mosaic lore.
One has to admire the simplicity of it all: the whole of ethical thought, encapsulated in 10 simple commandments. And with four of these related to purely devotional issues, much of our behavior would necessarily fall within the scope of just six of these universal laws.
To hear the zealots speak of it, the mere presence of these pearls of wisdom in a school would ward off all manner of evil and protect the students from harm.
Of course, kids will be kids. Sooner or later these clever adherents to the letter of the law will realize that god has given implicit approval to a host of activities in which they might engage.
What types of schoolhouse decadence might the Decalogue fail to address? Here are 10 examples, in no particular order:
1. Destruction of school property
2. Truancy
3. Teen sex
4. Carrying concealed weapons
5. Insubordination
6. Alcohol consumption
7. Drug use (and sales)
8. Racially motivated violence
9. Smoking
10. Obscenity
Not to mention gambling, bigotry, fighting, verbal abuse, physical abuse, torture, animal cruelty, rape, prostitution, and gay bashing. If we have so little faith in our children that we must distill morality down to a few items, perhaps we can compile a more meaningful top 10 list for them.
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29 October 2004
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