No Such Thing as Ten Commandments;

It’s Either Eleven or One

By Dale Short

When I went to work for the now-departed Community News in

Sumiton, the editorial page had a little box of text at the bottom that said,
“We welcome letters from readers on all subjects, except politics and
religion.”
And I thought, well, that's dumb. Just think of the great conversations
we could have in the Letters section. So I changed it, and told people they
could write to us about anything on their minds.
That didn't last long. Mainly because when you have a 24-page
newspaper it's just not economically feasible to have 12 pages of letters from
readers. And if you left somebody's letter out, they accused you of being a
Communist or an atheist or whatever.
Almost everybody has a hot button connected to one of those subjects,
and things can turn ugly pretty quick. That's why I make it a habit not to
discuss politics or religion with strangers. Rarely does any good come of it,
just ruffled feathers.
Of course, not everybody feels this way. I was writing a check in a
store once and asked the clerk what day of the month it was. It happened to
be the 31st. “Gosh,” I said, just making conversation, “this month has really
flown by.”
“Yes, it has,” he said. “And some day, we'll all wake up in eternity.”
I'm sure he considered this a Christian witness, but it really creeped
me out.
One of the highest compliments I've ever been paid was when I gave a
talk at a writing conference and a young guy came up to me afterward and
said, “If you ever decide to start a new church, I'll join it.”
I told him I appreciated it, but that if I ever decide to start a church,
please get me to a hospital fast so they can adjust my medications.
Although.
If I ever did start a church, it would probably be based on one
principle: If you're a Christian, there is no such thing as the Ten
Commandments.
I'm guessing this might be a hot-button issue, for a few folks, but hear
me out.
Turn with me to the Book of John, Chapter 13, Verse 34. (I much
prefer the King James, but you can use your own.)
Jesus says, “A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one
another as I have loved you.”
A new commandment. Can't get much plainer than that.
To me, this can only be interpreted in two ways. Up until that point,
there were 10 commandments. Jesus gave his followers a new one. So either
you tack that onto the bottom of the old ones, in which case there are 11, or
else (as I personally see it) the new one REPLACES the old ones because it
makes them unnecessary, in which case there is only one commandment.
That's it. Our services would be fairly brief, because it doesn't take
long to go over that.
To help spread the message, we could have bumper stickers and
buttons made, saying “11 OR 1,” and people could come up to us and ask us
what it means.
Our politics? I personally think that religion has no place in politics. It
seems like a good idea at the time, but we see how it worked out in Salem
and Kabul and all those other places.
But if you HAD to have religion in politics, I wouldn't be opposed to
posting the Sermon on the Mount in courtrooms and the halls of Congress.
Why is it that everybody who wants religion in politics just wants the Old
Testament parts about judging and smiting? I'm pretty sure Jesus was not
into that, except for that one time with the money changer thing.
So, think about it. Your mileage may vary. I'd like to hear your
interpretation.
And I promise not to call you a Communist.

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(Dale Short is a native of Walker County. You can find more of his writing
on his Facebook page, or you can e-mail him at cdshort@live.com. His new
short-story collection, “Turbo's Very Life,” and other books are available
online at NewSouthbooks.com)