The Ten Commandments have been frequently in the news lately. A Texas judge posted them in his courtroom, members of Congress have proposed posting them in pubic schools, and William Rusher’s column in the Herald on September 2^nd, "On posting the Commandments", told us why school children would benefit. Briefly summarizing, he said that by posting the Ten Commandments: school authorities and the state would be acknowledging the existence of a Supreme Being, God, who morally governs all humankind; students would become familiar with the 10 laws handed down by God to Moses; and students, especially those who have received little or no exposure to religious training at home, would mark the importance society places in the Commandments and would feel "… subtly drawn to the whole concept."

Though Rusher’s proselytizing could present major problems in our pluralistic society for those who are not Christian and though our Constitutional system has steadfastly kept church and state separate, I will ignore these points and take Rusher at his word that he wants to improve the moral education of our children by "…nudging toward God an unknown number of youngsters who might otherwise become moral monsters…".

To better understand how this would work, imagine you are a teacher at one of Benicia’s schools and that the Commandments have been prominently posted in the hallways. During an assembly for all students, faculty and staff, the Commandments are read and their significance discussed. Further, imagine that you need to explicitly include references to the Commandments in your lesson plans.

When you discuss other civilizations and indigenous peoples and their various religious practices, do you condemn some for practicing animism and polytheism rather than monotheism?

When a student asks why so many people work on Sunday, a day the Commandments proclaim to be a day of rest, what do you say?

When a student who is considering becoming a policeman or joining the military asks you about the commandment not to kill or another asks about capital punishment, how do you explain the exceptions to the rule?

When you are studying Martin Luther King, Jr. or FDR or John F. Kennedy, do you ignore each man’s adulterous relations or do you teach that each man contributed much to our society in spite of weaknesses?

When you purchase supplies and books from an Internet company in order to avoid paying local sales taxes, do you call it stealing?

When politicians and talk-show hosts and commentators – some of whom claim to be highly moral and religious – speak ill of others, should you not condemn them as bearing false witness against their neighbors?

When almost 50% of marriages end in divorce and houses are getting bigger and cars are getting bigger and more numerous and so many want so much more, how do you discuss coveting a neighbor’s wife and ox?

And when a student asks about taking drugs or binge drinking or driving too fast or sexual harassment or racial prejudice, to which Commandment will you point?

Perhaps we need to also post the Golden Rule, the Seven Deadly Sins, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, the Gettysburg Address, many Supreme Court decisions that have improved the lives of millions of Americans, and on and on. In fact, we may find that we need to post an education on the walls of our schools. Which, of course, is exactly what our teachers are trying to accomplish.

In all my years of attending school and teaching in them and meeting with the teachers of my two sons, I cannot remember a single teacher who I thought was not a model of ethical behavior. Some teachers should have known their subject matter better, some could have been more inspirational, some better organized, and some could have spent more time getting to know my sons, but all were ethical people who taught morality by example, through discipline and in class discussions.

As a free democratic society, we not only get the government and politicians we deserve, we get the media and services and cities and neighborhoods and children we deserve. We can try to layer increased moral responsibility on our schools in an effort to correct what we see as wrong in our society, but to do so is to pass on our responsibility as parents, neighbors and citizens. Because, ultimately, when we look at our children, we are looking at ourselves.

- Dave Badtke is founder of the developing Carquinez Review literary journal. Find him on the web at www.CarquinezReview.com.

Contact him at:
Dave@CarquinezReview.com or Dave@Badtke.com  

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