In various places across the fruited plain, I am watching with interest as a debate takes place concerning the Ten Commandments, and especially their place in public schools. It is a discussion I am very interested in as an American, not just as a Christian and a preacher.
I was seven years old when I first started standing up in school and saying the Pledge of Allegiance and learning the Ten Commandments. My teachers understood how well those things went together; they wanted what was best for our “one nation under God,” and knew that a society inculcated with the most basic and sensible code of morals ever given would produce what was best for everyone.
All of us little tykes had either a mom or a dad or a mom and dad. And every day that we came to school, the words “Honor thy father and thy mother” were right there for us to see. For their part, the teachers really hammered this one home; if they ever overheard any of us sassing our parents, they chewed us out; that was against the express command of God. Our parents were quick to reciprocate; there was no back-talking the teachers, and certainly none of the cursing and even physical assaults that many teachers today face at the hands of out-of-control spoiled brats and thugs. The words of that fifth commandment helped to produce an orderly, respectable society.
Seven, by the way, was forty-nine years ago for me. A lot has happened in those forty-nine years. One thing that has not happened, though, is me killing anyone. Like most people, I often jokingly speak of considering it, but I have never really even done that. For starters, I am a big fan of freedom; I like coming and going and doing. And then there is the entire wearing of ugly orange thing; I would rather not spend life being so ill-attired.
But another reason for me not killing people is that way back then, right there in front of me every day of my life, were the words “Thou shalt not kill.” Our teachers really bore down on that and even extended it to its logical reach; if people are really made in the image of God, then not only should we never murder anyone, but we should also be kind to people. People are not disposable; they have value, and we are to treat them as such. That sixth commandment produced an entire school of people who have never murdered a single soul; it is reasonably easy to keep track of that kind of thing in a small town.