Government at all levels is financially, intellectually and morally bankrupt. Conservatives, libertarians and Tea Partiers are demanding radically less government. We may end up getting it, if only because government will no longer be able to borrow money to fund their on-going invasion and occupation of our lives.
World peace starts with inner peace
Joyful individuals make up a harmonious family, which then joins other families to constitute a well-ordered community. And communities are the building blocks of states and nations. Like a house, a community cannot be built from the top down. It must be built from the foundation up.
Fundamental change will challenge us as individuals, as families, and as communities. We will be required to muster levels of self-sufficiency, prudence, and cooperation not required of Americans since The Greatest Generation was in diapers.
The Ten Commandments show us the way
Catholics, Protestants, and Jewish people all agree on the commandments, they just divide them up in different ways. In fact, "According to Jewish tradition, G-d gave the Jewish people 613 mitzvot (commandments)." (Judaism 101). I mention this because I don't want the discussion to get bogged down in who's got the "right" set of commandments.
The Ten Commandments tell us how to worship God and how to deal with one another. Traditional Judaism teaches that the first tablet contains the commandments concerning our duties to God, and the second tablet lists our duties to others. The commandments are God's prescription for individual, family and community harmony.
Get Right With God
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
You shall have no other gods before me
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain
Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy
A person who has lost connection with God is adrift, chasing shadows and filling the emptiness with false idols. Ever notice how those who abandon God inevitably end up building a golden calf? If you lost your credit cards and your ability to buy flashy consumer goods, shopping sprees, nights on the town and vacations, could you cope? How many of us could not?
Family is the fundamental building block of society
Honor your father and your mother
We have social problems in this country because we have broken families. We all want to belong, and if a kid is alienated from his own family or if the family is dysfunctional, he will find another family. It could be church, scouting, or even a welcoming family down the street, but more often it is gangs or loose groups of fellow alienated adolescents, all on a downward spiral.
Parents have the primary responsibility to teach their children. School teachers, religious education teachers, social workers and scout leaders are all secondary. God grants parents a grave responsibility when he allows us to create life.
Respect other families
God's prohibition of theft and murder is easy to understand. Respect for life and property are essential to a prosperous society. The remainder of the commandments can be seen as not just the duty we owe to others, but also duties that uphold the integrity of the family.
You shall not commit adulteryWhen an adulterous relationship involves two married people, two families are harmed. Coveting a neighbor's spouse or any of his or her stuff just causes problems, often leading to the breaking of other commandments, irresponsible consumption, and family dysfunction. Bearing false witness (lying) destroys trust, which is the lifeblood of a prosperous free market and free society.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.
God's Law: Sublime, yet simple to understand
What struck me most as I contemplated this topic is that even the irreligious or atheistic can see the wisdom of these commandments, even if they do not agree with them all. Indeed, Western society is based upon the values contained in God's law, even though secular documents provide our legal foundations.
Governments can make laws, but it takes a responsible people to make a prosperous society.
