Observercast
Account/Login/Out
Take Our Anonymous Survey
Shop for Subscriptions and Clothing
To Comfort The Afflicted
And Afflict The Comfortable
To Comfort The Afflicted And Afflict The Comfortable
A Monument To Zealotry
By Arnold Hamilton
BY RICHARD L. FRICKER
The opening of the Oklahoma Legislature kicks off the yearly buffoon competition wherein various legislators vie for the opportunity to portray Oklahoma to the nation as filled with slack-jawed people in clown suits, Bible in one hand, gun in the other followed by a pit bull and a barefoot pregnant teenage wife wearing a Jim Inhofe t-shirt.
The frontrunner thus far? Rep. J. Michael Ritze, D.O., R-Broken Arrow, wants to erect an obelisk of the Ten Commandments on the Capitol lawn.
Perhaps Ritze feels Oklahomans are in such moral, legal and social disrepair that they need to be reminded not to lie, cheat, steal, kill or commit social offenses. Or it may be he feels the various religious institutions across the state have fallen down on the job of teaching the tenets of the decalogue, the common term for the Ten Commandments.
There is an average one religious-based school per county – difficult to believe all have abandoned teaching the Ten Commandments. The State Department of Education lists 69 accredited religious schools. The Association of Christian Schools International holds 47 Oklahoma schools on its rolls, another list of "Christian" schools cites 95 Oklahoma schools.
Alas, these lists are not complete. Many "Christian" schools are not accredited and operate independently, without oversight.
If the religious education of Oklahomans is intact, why the obelisk?
Whatever his reasoning, or lack thereof, RepDoc's proposal has a couple of problems. His contention that the Ten Commandments form the basis of our current legal system is fraught with errors.
The "Law" is fluid – a concept that should be obvious to someone who has volunteered, begged and campaigned for the opportunity to make and pass laws governing his neighbors and fellow citizens. Law has always evolved and there is a plethora of historical and biblical information to debunk RepDoc's position.
A quick stroll down Bible lane illustrates that there were lots of laws before Moses looted Pharaoh's treasury and hightailed into the desert to conquer some unsuspecting people who had never harmed the Hebrews.
Joseph of multicolored dream coat comes to mind.
Joseph was thrown into the royal slam on the false testimony of Mrs. Pharaoh. She claimed he asked her to do the naked bump boogie. That was the story she told the big man. We're left to assume there were laws against coveting thy neighbor's wife, especially Mrs. Pharaoh.
When we find adult Moses he's on the run for whacking an overseer – must have been some murder laws in place or he wouldn't have tossed the good life. So, we've got some moral and social laws in place long before Moses journeyed up the mountain.
The earliest known set of laws is the Code of Ur-Nammo [2050BCE], next comes the Laws of Eshnunna [1930 BCE], Lipt-Ishtar of Isin [1870 BCE] followed by the most famous Code of Hammurabi [1760 BCE].
Interestingly, Hammurabi claimed, and this comes by way of a stele found in 1901 by Gustav Jequier and currently on display at the Louvre, his god gave him the law. His exact words, inscribed on the stele, "Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land."
Hammurabi's pronouncement predates Moses by about 400 years. But before dealing with Moses, there is the little matter of the Hittites.
The Hittites came after Hamm-boy but before Moses. Their Code of the Nesilim contained 200 laws. What is important here is that they had trade and political agreements with the Egyptians beginning with the rule of Thutmose III [1479-1425 BCE]; we're still a hundred years from Moses.
The Egyptians and Hittites interacted for a couple of hundred years until they fell into disagreement ending at the battle of Kadesh [1273 BCE]. The Pharaoh claimed victory, history says otherwise. Nevertheless, the Hittites soon faded off the world stage.
Moses, raised at Pharaoh's court, would most certainly been aware of the Hittites. It would follow he would have known about their code. The Hittite law, as with Hammurabi and its predecessors, looks a lot like what has become known as the decalogue.
The idea of Divine inspiration predates Moses by 400 years. What better way to get folks to go along than to say it's not your law, it's God's, it worked for Hammurabi and he was famous.
About Moses – the whole account of the law-giving is in the Torah, which was not completed until some time between 539-334 BCE. The Rabbis at that time back-dated the Moses story to about 1380 BCE, which would have been during the Egyptian-Hittite happy times. Evidence of the entire Exodus story is still being debated by scholars of all faiths to this day.
It would have been reasonable to assume that before RepDoc made his proposal he would have done some simple research. RepDoc has a couple of college degrees, teaches at a college, is in the law-making business and has access to lots of academics.
Additionally, there are many universities, religious, private and secular within the state, all have history departments, RepDoc could have made the call.
At the very least he could have checked the Internet, assuming he knows how to Google. If not, perhaps someone he trusts, such as an insurance lobbyists or prosecutors, could provide instruction.
Perhaps this explains his fascination with pathology and forensic law enforcement. Has there ever been a cadaver sue a pathologist for being wrong?
About the obelisk, which version of the decalogue does RepDoc have in mind? Presently there four or five versions in circulation throughout the U.S. Christian community.
Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Baptists and their respective divisions, Methodists, and numerous other denominations use a form, but not necessarily the same form of the decalogue. There are also differing translations within Judaism, not to mention Islam has its interpretations of the 10 laws.
While these interpretations "generally" agree the differences can sometime spark heated debate. So, which one would be the Oklahoma Standard Ten Commandments? If RepDoc has one in mind he's keeping very quiet.
There are many pitfalls in selecting which interpretation to use, going all the way back to the original translations from Greek, then to Hebrew and Latin. Which translation is the most accurate? Good question. Not to mention the various renditions offered just in English which has changed so much over the last thousand years.
Needless to say, but should be noted, Moses did not have an English-speaking scribe scurrying about waiting for Henry VIII to come about and start that whole Church of England business.
So which one is the most correct? Because there is always the risk of offending one group or the other and then finding oneself, in this case the people of Oklahoma via the Attorney General's office, in court. Maybe a committee of theologians, preachers, soothsayers, seers, a rabbi or two, a couple of monks and some fellow that just heard the call and founded the First Church of the Third Stop Light on Main Street would be the answer.
Needless to say, the Southern Baptist Convention would not agree to let the decision be made by a group of Jesuits, nor would the Episcopalians be willing to accept the decision of the Baptists, the Methodists most likely would disagree with the Episcopalian view and so on and so on, each with their own theological view not to mention the Rabbis and Imams.
While such an undertaking may sound historic, it's not. This same exercise has been going on since the Emperor Constantine in the 300s and it hasn't been settled yet. It's just that everyone has agreed to follow their own path and leave the others alone – that is until RepDoc.
Another solution would be to let the Oklahoma Legislature decide the true word of the God. Of course there might be some resistance, not to mention lamentations.
A decision, if reached, would be open to court challenges, eventually ending at the Supreme Court. This would open up the prospect of nine lawyers deciding the true word of God.
The problem seems to keep compounding itself. Maybe the best solution is to not build the obelisk. It's not needed, would only spread dissatisfaction and cost money. The entire idea is as full of biological waste as a holiday gobbler.
Doubtless some legislators, imbibed with their own evangelical zeal and disregard for logic and history, or in a moment of unbridled cowardice fearing the "evangelical backlash" – whatever that is – will vote to go forward with the RepDoc obelisk. Then there will the haggle over design, placement, contracting and issues yet unborn.
Ultimately the obelisk may well be built. However, its only real accomplishment will be the undying gratitude of every stray canine within walking distance.
– Richard L. Fricker lives in Tulsa, OK and is a regular contributor to The Oklahoma Observer
Episcopalians
Jim Inhofe
Oklahoma Capitol
Rep. Mike Ritze
Previous articleThe Sun Belt Scam Culture
Next articleStanding On Ginsburg's Shoulders
Paul February 10, 2009	At	1:05 pm
There is only one set of ten commandments that should be used: the set in Exodus 34.
Backstory: Moses goes up mountain, gets mooned by JHVH, is given the tablets. Moses goes down mountain, sees golden calf, throws tablets down in a hissy fit and breaks them. Which leads us into Ex 34.
JHVH tells Moses he's going to give him the commandments again, just like the first set. But they're not. The first four are worded differently but have roughly the same meaning. The last six are completely different. My favourite is the tenth commandment which says "Thou shalt not seethe [boil] a kid [young goat] in his mother's milk."
And right after the prohibition on goat-boiling, JHVH says that with THESE commandments he makes his covenant with Israel. These are the ones that went into the ark of the covenant, kept in that most holy place, the sanctum sanctorum.
Even though I'm an atheist, I'd happily endorse the display of THOSE ten commandments on public buildings. After all, goat-boiling is an endemic plague in the US…
Arnold Hamilton
Arnold Hamilton became editor of The Observer in September 2006. Previously, he served nearly two decades as the Dallas Morning News' Oklahoma Bureau chief. He also covered government and politics for the San Jose Mercury News, the Dallas Times Herald, the Tulsa Tribune and the Oklahoma Journal.
Observercast Episode 2.2: The First Right Afforded To The People
Oklahoma Observer - January 18, 2021 0
Oklahoma's Founding Fathers clearly were wary of too much power in too few hands. One of the first planks they nailed into the state...
Dreams And Nightmares
Mark Y. A. Davies - January 18, 2021 0
Trump's vision and King's vision are both part of America. One represents our national nightmare; the other our national dream. One is the original sin...
Observercast Season 2, Episode 1: A Perfect Political Storm
If you think the Oklahoma Legislature took a giant step toward solving public education's chronic funding problems three years ago when it approved the...
Fort Sicknick Has An Honorable Ring
Gary Edmondson - January 11, 2021 0
Last Wednesday, while Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick was being mortally wounded defending the U.S. Capitol from a coup, the president of the United...
Observer Archives
Observer Archives Select Month January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008
"Bob's efforts on our website have been herculean. He's at the ready, 24/7, for whatever crops up and he's always on the lookout for ways to refine and improve our site. He has just the right touch to make it more eye-catching, user-friendly and accessible. He was especially invaluable when the theme developer suddenly dropped support, requiring creative patching to keep it going. We can't recommend Bob highly enough!" – Arnold Hamilton, Editor, The Oklahoma Observer
Reviews from Facebook
The Oklahoma Observer
Gayla Machell
Undoubtedly. The only publication of its kind in Oklahoma. We need to support the few forums for progressive discussion... in our state.read more
David Perryman
Excellent perspective, insight and commentary to balance the rhetoric produced by corporate controlled media in our... state and nationally.read more
Jay Keller
Great independent progressive resource!
Bill Housden
Common-sense discussion of Oklahoma politics.
Francie Conway
Enjoy for years���
Frosty couldn't have found a better publisher and journalist than Arnold Hamilton to continue his superb legacy of... interesting, often funny and always outstanding reporting of the political news.read more
Charles Nuckolls
Kristopher Masterman
Galeda M. Jones
Have been a reader for years. Best paper in Oklahoma.
Bette Maffucci
It's the best publication to stay up with what REALLY is going on in this state. well written, thoroughly documented,... informative stories.read more
Patricia Cook Mauldin
Was so saddened to hear of Frosty Troys passing.I know my father who passed in 2012 was eagerly awaiting his arrival... in heaven...he was his biggest fan I believe and got me reading the observer at an early age.Please keep up the good work.read more
Penny Ellinger Bostwick
Pamela Ruth Henry
Victor Hutchison
Dennis Whiteman
M Tim Blake
It is a privilege to write commentaries for this important newspaper in our state.
Julia Bays
Jodi McMullen
Norma Sapp
Looking for the latest Observer?
Copies are available at the following OKC locations:
Donate with PayPal or MyChange
© The Oklahoma Observer, all rights reserved.
Website by: Mr Rogers' Weborhood
Email: info@okobserver.org