[Magdalen] What a news day (& at least out here, it's only started).

Sat Sep 26 21:20:58 UTC 2015

I completely agree with your sentiments.

However, you also demonstrate the understanding that the commandment
somehow extends to other references to God. It does not.
It is a specific text. It says what it says.  Not what we think it ought to
say, or what we think it must surely mean.
It simply says, do not use the word Yhvh pointlessly ("in emptiness").

It seems to me that a person acquainted with scripture ought to have the
respect and reverence to avoid crass oaths and inappropriate calling down
of reward or punishment whether or not that commandment was there or not.
The commandment doesn't refer to "elohim" or lord" -- or "Baal" for that
matter.  Obviously that doesn't mean we merrily go around spouting those
words because they are not specifically forbidden!!!!

Trivial?  Not at all!  Why?  Well, here's one reason:

Right now we have millions of Christians who read certain texts and
conclude that homosexuality is sinful.
They insist that it is in scripture.
What they are doing is exactly the same thing as we see here:
They take a text and expand it to what it surely must mean, that anyone
with a lick of sense would know it must mean.
Except that that is not what the text says.
And they have been so accustomed to doing it for so long that they refuse
to listen to any other viewpoint.

We need to first and foremost know what the text says. And does not say.
Boy, did that get some students steamed when I was teaching!  But they
needed to get that right or they might as well forget anything else.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Sat, Sep 26, 2015 at 2:21 AM, Sally Davies <sally.davies at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Much as I dislike the fast-spreading of casually saying OMG _all_  the
> time, and (even worse) using Christ as an expletive...or even my kids'
> favourite "Holy S^%t"...
>
> ...I have come to believe that taking the Lord's name in vain was
> never about that. What it is about, IMO, is spiritual abuse. Claiming to
> speak for God and with that borrowed power and authority, breaking and
> crushing God's children (including animal children and their habitats).
>
> Thus Saith the Lord is fine and dandy if you are a venerable paid-up
> prophet who's done time in the cisterns of life, but not if you're a
> prosperity-cult Evangelical trying to convince someone that if they only
> had sufficient faith they could be cured, or that God didn't make Adam and
> Steve, or that your "heavy shepherding" style of church governance is
> biblically based. Or that you as a priest are fully entitled to play your
> creepy little games with little boys and girls who won't be believed
> because you are a "man of God".
>
> Whenever someone uses the phrase "The Word of God" other than liturgically,
> there's a high chance that this commandment is about to be broken, causing
> wounds that may never fully heal.
>
> Breaking the other commandments tend to leave one feeling sorry and ashamed
> if not socially and psychologically worse off, but breaking this one just
> adds to the tally of self-righteousness and abuses of power.
>
> There again, there's always the "Oh God of Hangovers" to consider.
>
> Sally D
>
> On Saturday, September 26, 2015, James Oppenheimer-Crawford <
> oppenheimerjw at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > You've got ten slots and you blow one just for saying, "Don't use the
> name
> > 'YHVH' pointlessly."
> >
> > And then there's all that silliness about sitting at home on Saturday, no
> > matter what. Period.
> > And We. Will. Kill. You. if you don't obey. Even if you don't know what
> the
> > rule is.
> >
> > I kind of prefer the bcp version where they set the literal stuff aside
> and
> > set some rational guidelines, calculated to accomplish what Scripture
> > alleged god wants anyway.
> >
> > If someone brings up the Ten Words, I have two basic responses.
> >
> > 1. We don't know when it happened, but it is very likely the product of a
> > moral code that anyone could memorize, and if you can count on your
> > fingers, you know if you've got 'em all.  The early Church was a
> saddlebag
> > affair, when most of the folks were minding flocks.  I think it has a
> grasp
> > of many because it is really the most ancient attempt at law we know of,
> > and it has a few points that really go to the core of moral action, e.g.,
> > coveting.
> >
> > 2. We honor the Ten Words, but our moral guidance far extends beyond
> that,
> > just as the ancient Torah had long ago already established many, many
> other
> > rules. Torah offers a huge array of resources that are not rules or laws.
> >
> > James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
> > *“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
> > except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy
> >
> > On Fri, Sep 25, 2015 at 5:27 PM, Scott Knitter <scottknitter at gmail.com
> > <javascript:;>>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > On Fri, Sep 25, 2015 at 4:20 PM, Judy Fleener <fleenerj at gmail.com
> > <javascript:;>> wrote:
> > > > You're proud of that right?   Like when my d-in-l asked me, "At least
> > you
> > > > believe in the ten commandments, don't you?"  I answered:  "I suppose
> > > they
> > > > are fine if you live in a male dominated agrarian society." Thank
> you,
> > > Jack
> > > > Spong.
> > >
> > > Although from the 10 Commandments we learn our duty to God and our
> > > duty to our neighbors?
> > >
> > > --
> > > Scott R. Knitter
> > > Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA
> > >
> >
>