Senate Resolution 483: Ten Commandments Weekend March 18, 2008

Senate Resolution 483: Ten Commandments Weekend

By Guest Contributor
March 18, 2008

Adding to the list of theocratically-leaning government sponsored bills, you may now look forward (PDF) to the first weekend in May:

RESOLUTION

Recognizing the first weekend of May 2008 as ‘‘Ten Commandments Weekend’’.

Are you %&$#ing kidding me?

Sam Brownback (R-KS) submitted the resolution.

Joe Lieberman (I(?)-CT) is the only co-sponsor.

Why do we need this…?

“It is important for Americans to remember the importance the Ten Commandments have in our nation,” said Brownback. “The Ten Commandments are the cornerstone to the faith of millions of Americans of many faith traditions, and are a cornerstone to a fair and just society. We as a nation should take a weekend to reflect on the impact the Ten Commandments have had on the foundation of America’s national life.”

Because as we all know, no one ever remembers the Ten Commandments.

What does the resolution involve?

Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Senate–

(1) recognizes the first weekend of May 2008 as “Ten Commandments Weekend”;

(2) celebrates the Ten Commandments as a significant aspect of the national life of the United States; and

(3) encourages citizens of the United States to reflect on the integral role that the Ten Commandments have played in the life of the Nation.

So many questions…

Which version of the Ten Commandments is Brownback referring to?

What do the first four Commandments have to do with anything?

Whom do I dislike more: Brownback or Lieberman?

The bill’s currently in committee…

(via No God Blog)


[tags]atheist, atheism, Christian, fundamentalist[/tags]

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  • You’ve gotta find a video of Stephen Colbert interviewing Brownback. When asked to name the ten commandments, he could come up with about four…Priceless!

  • That was actually Congressman Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia. But it is a great video 🙂

  • Adrian

    Exactly which of the commandments are so integral to the US union? Graven images? Honour the sabbath?

    I wonter if the ijits proposing this bill have even read the Ten Commandments (any of the several different Ten Commandments).

  • And I thought it was bad when I had finals on my birthday…

  • Tolga K.

    I think it’s only proper that we protest.

    It’s a shame that they’re deciding on this while I’m under a pansy representative who refuses to take part in the votes on religious resolutions.

    Whether it passes or not, I want to raise hell about this. It’s ridiculous.

  • It’s interesting that it happens to be after the National Day of Prayer (first Thursday in May). They are locking up the beginning of May. Some people associate May Day (which would occasionally fall on one of the 4 days) as a communist or pagan holiday)…could they be trying to replace it?

  • ash

    i propose a counter-resolution…

    RESOLUTION

    Recognizing the first weekend of May 2008 as ‘‘Friday Weekend’’.

    “It is important for Americans to remember the importance Fridays have in our nation, Fridays are the cornerstone to the weekends of millions of Americans of many faith traditions, and are a cornerstone to a 5 day working week society. We as a nation should take a weekend to reflect on the impact Fridays have had on the foundation of America’s national life.”

    Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved, That the Senate–

    (1) recognizes the first weekend of May 2008 as “Friday Weekend”;

    (2) celebrates Fridays as a significant aspect of the national life of the United States; and

    (3) encourages citizens of the United States to reflect on the integral role that Fridays have played in the life of the Nation.

    …makes just as much sense…

  • Ada

    “Many faith traditions”? Doesn’t that imply… you know… more than two or three? Which ones is he thinking of, I wonder? The Ten Commandments aren’t the “cornerstone” of Judaism, as far as I know. They have way more than 10 mitzvot. Are the Ten Commandments even the “cornerstone” of Christianity? If they are already such an important part of people’s faith, why does the government need to do anything about it at all? It’s already important to the people who want it to have importance, right?

  • Christophe Thill

    What ??? A whole weekend during which “thou shalt not kill” ? That should pose a big problem to many people.

  • I wish I was even a tad bit surprised. I hate our government.

  • As much as I’d like to rebel by breaking them all, sadly quite a few are practically common sense or just plain good manners. So I guess I’ll just break the ones I can that weekend.

    1. You shall not worship any other god but YHWH.

    I’m sure I’ll find something to make my god that weekend.

    2. You shall not make a graven image.

    I’ll be sure to photograph something.

    3. You shall not take the name of YHWH in vain.

    Well God dammit, how am I going to break that one?

    4. You shall not break the Sabbath.

    I’ll be sure to do some cleaning on all three days since I’m not sure which sabbath I should break.

    5. You shall not dishonor your parents.

    I love my parents and they love me. I would never dishonor them.

    6. You shall not kill.

    I’m not likely to kill anyone, so we’ll keep that one.

    7. You shall not commit adultery
    I’m only engaged, but I would never cheat on my fiance and certainly I won’t cheat on her when she’s my wife. We’ll keep this one too.

    8. You shall not steal.

    Not a big fan of stealing.

    9. You shall not commit perjury.

    Can I tell a teeny, white lie?

    10. You shall not covet.

    I’m a guy, anyone who has a bigger TV than me is going to get some good old fashioned coveting.

  • Vincent

    who is on the judiciary committee so we can write them?

  • TXatheist

    This Republican administration is going to get every last far right thing they can before they are gone. Sadly, this will remain in US history. I couldn’t get my mayor to even acknowledge 2/12 as Darwin Day like the mayor of Cincinnati did 🙁

  • Great. Four of the commandments are unconstitutional. These are our lawmakers. Hasn’t anyone told them?

  • Tom in Iowa

    Anyone else note that as a cornerstone of our law and country – only three of them are currently crimes?

    Yes, I know that most of them have been crimes at various times, and in various localities in the past (and remain crimes in some states, although scarcely enforced).

    But as to Federal crimes, it’s only three. 30% is hardly a foundation.

  • Nancy

    What angers me the most is the frivolity of it all. We are into year 5 of an illegal war; the economy is quickly going south; gas prices, food prices, clothing prices are all skyrocketing….and THIS is wat the Senate is spending their precious time on?

  • Mike J.C.

    I fired off a letter to Sen. Lieberman’s office yesterday. As an atheist and a CT resident, I had to. I urge everyone to do the same. This is a blatant violation of the separation of church and state. I think we can all agree that it would be more accurate to say that the Constitution is the “cornerstone to a fair and just society” so let’s not tamper with it.

    Contact Sen. Lieberman here and contact Sen. Brownback here.

  • Matt

    @Nancy: Amen sister! Preach it! *coughs* Excuse me…

  • I fired off an email to my Senators (Dim-Bulb Reid and Ensign) and am now firing some off to Lieberman and Brownback. This kind of stuff is just ridiculous.

  • Darryl

    Fiddling as Rome burns. Idiots.

  • Is the Bible the true Word of God? If it is then it should not contain any contradictions.
    But in Exodus there are two very different versions of the Ten Commandments, and God is claiming that they are exactly the same (Exo 20:1-17 vs. Exo 34:1,12-26).

  • This sort of thing makes me proud to be English. 🙂

    We’ve done some stupid shit in our time but this is ridiculous.

  • Karen

    Jeezus, I am so sick of this kind of stupid pandering … ugh!

  • Spurs Fan

    who is on the judiciary committee so we can write them?

    http://judiciary.senate.gov/members.cfm

  • Yeah, I was always a bigger fan of the Exodus 34 version. I mean, come on… how can you compete with, “Thou Shalt Not Prepare Goat Stroganoff”??

    Let’s put that in front of a courthouse and ask the fundies to explain its relevance to the legal code (or to anything at all, for that matter).

  • Mriana

    I think the gods are crazy (AKA some of these congress people, playing god with the U.S. citizens). I can’t wait until we throw them all out of office. Hey, I can hope can’t I? Still say they are all insane, possibly as insane as Comfort and his GOD delusion.

  • Kyle O’Brien

    In the Kite Runner, it’s simplified to stealing. Killing is stealing a life. Adultry is stealing someone’s right to a father or lover. Stealing possessions. Stealing honor from those who deserve it (father/mother)