photo from http://media.al.com/live/photo/ten-commandments-monumentjpg-f4d3696d089b911e_large.jpgA couple of times a month I get together with some guys for coffee, usually on a Saturday morning. Our friendship has grown over the years and we support each other, bounce ideas around, and talk about world events, not unlike any other group of men.
I don't remember what we were talking about exactly but one of them said that he was tired of seeing so much time and effort being wasted on things that really don't expand the kingdom (paraphrased). What he said next sparked my interest. "Does it really matter if the 10 Commandments are in front of a court house or moved to the church down the street?"
I did a little research on this subject and found that this battle over separation of church and state is much larger than I thought. There are cases in several states across the the country, some of them have been ongoing for 7 to 10 years or more. The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled on some of these, which means that they have been through numerous lower court proceedings at a huge expense to tax payers.
Please understand that my friend is a Christ follower who deeply believes in our Judaio-Christian heritage, in which the 10 Commandments are the foundation. His point is this; are we fighting the right battle? This is a fight about who's rights are being infringed upon, not a fight to push back the darkness of this world.
What would happen today if we concentrated all that effort into mentoring and tutoring programs for kids that are falling behind in school? What would happen today if the court system was free of these cases so they could work on keeping criminals in prison, or even better yet, setting an innocent man free? What would happen today if these cases were gone which would free up tax dollars so our local, state, and federal governments didn't have to make budget cuts and lay off good workers? What would happen today if we tried to build relationships with the people who want the 10 Commandments moved instead of fighting against them?
What would happen today...?
I think that if the world saw us focused on stuff like caring about unborn babies (you shall not kill)as well as taking care of and finding homes for the ones who are born and unwanted.
ReplyDeleteNot worrying about prayers at commencements and being more focused on simply getting God back in our schools like he used to be instead of Allah,Buddah,Krishna,etc,etc...(you shall not have any gods before me.)
Intead of suing one another over slanderous comments, teaching our kids and society to tell the truth (you shall not bear false witness)
I could go on but you get the point. We don't need to worry about where the rock with the words are, we (I) need to live them so that they are aways visible to everyone.