KY politics and the 10 Commandments

The front page of Sunday's (Louisville) Courier-Journal had an article by Joseph Gerth on the annual Fancy Farm picnic-- a highlight (of sorts) of the Kentucky political calendar. The primary focus on this year's event was the Fletcher/Beshear gubernatorial race. At one point, their pointed banter centered around Beshear's ruling, as KY's attorney general in 1981, to disallow the posting of the 10 Commandments in public school classrooms (to adhere to a Supreme Court opinion).

"If Moses came to Kentucky, what would he think?" Fletcher asked, in talking about a 1981 opinion by Beshear. As attorney general, Beshear wrote that Kentucky schools must remove the Ten Commandments from classrooms pursuant to a U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Later, Beshear told the crowd that his father used to tell him that where the Ten Commandments are displayed isn't nearly as important as living by them. "If this administration had been living by them, they wouldn't be in the mess they're in now," he said.

Beshear had a wonderful retort. But to answer Fletcher more directly: I doubt Moses would have been bothered, since the 10 C's are meant for the community of believers (in his day and ours). He might say something about displays in churches but not in public schools. Likewise, we don't observe him traveling to Egypt to talk with Pharaoh about posting the commandments there. (For more on this argument, see: chapters 5-7 of Turn Neither to the Right nor to the Left: A Thinking Christian's Guide to Politics and Public Policy.)

Aside from the ethical concerns of posting the C's in a govt setting, Fletcher and others seem to think that posting the Commandments will make a practical difference. As Anthony Tomasino says: "The remedy, some seem to believe, could be as simple as giving our children two tablets of stone and checking the moral temperature again in the morning." But there is little reason to believe in the efficacy of this solution to whatever cultural woes we face.

That said, I love the 10 C's, teaching on them, and working with others to teach through them (as we do as a component of our 21-month discipleship curriculum, Thoroughly Equipped). They point to our need for a Savior (given a holy God and the extent to which we fall short of perfection) and they are so rich to tease out into various contexts (e.g., what it means to steal and to honor one's parents)-- and surely, the world would be a far better place if people observed the 10 C's.

The funny thing is that as popular as the 10 C's seem to be (especially within the church), most people know very little about them. Try out this little quiz I've developed to test your knowledge...


The Ten-Question Ten Commandments Quiz

1.) What are the Ten Commandments? (2 points each; another point for each one in the correct order; note: questions 2-3 may help you put them in the correct order and I’m assuming the common Protestant [vs. Catholic] ordering)

2.) What distinguishes the obligations of the first 4 Commandments from the 5th and from the last 5? (3 pts.)

3.) What 3 categories are represented by the following groups of Commandments (with some overlap): 1, 5, and 10 vs. 3 and 9 vs. 2, 4, 6, 7, and 8? (3 pts.)

4.) How many Commandments are "thou shalt nots"—as opposed to "thou shalts"? (1 pt.)

5.) How many explicitly promise a curse/blessing for disobedience/obedience? (2 pts.)

6.) In what ways did God communicate the Ten Commandments? (2 pts.)

7.) In which chapter in Exodus is the Ten Commandments? (1 pt.)

8.) Where else are the Ten Commandments listed? (1 pt. each for correct book and chapter)

9.) Which of the Ten is not explicitly repeated as a command in the New Testament? (2 pts.)

10.) In his teaching, what did Christ do with the Ten Commandments? (2 pts. each; maximum 2 answers)

Total: ________ (max. 50 pts.)

if you scored...
50 points, you are sitting on Holy Ground
40-49 points, you are Moses
30-39 points, you are Joshua
20-29 points, you are Jethro
10-19 points, you are at risk to become a grumbler
0-10 points, you need to spend 40 years in the Wilderness with your Bible