Jim Beckel/AP
First up from the God Machine this week is a religio-political story out of Oklahoma that's more amusing than most.
A Ten Commandments monument is up on the grounds of the state Capitol, but it didn't pass spell check.
"Remember the Sabbeth day, to keep it holy," reads one.
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidseruent," reads the last one.
Obviously, the Ten Commandments monument is itself problematic as a matter of constitutional law and the separation of church and state. Though the religious display was financed with private funds, its placement on the grounds of the state Capitol suggests officials are endorsing one faith's religious text over all others -- and legally, government is supposed to be neutral on matters of religion, not playing favorites.
What's more, note that Oklahoma's state-endorsed religious display uses the Protestant version of the Ten Commandments, not the Catholic or Jewish versions, and no other tradition's tenets will receive equal treatment.
But even putting the legality aside, it didn't occur to folks to check the spelling of the Ten Commandments? It's one thing to fail to read the Constitution or court rulings on church-state separation, but it's another to fail to read the sacred text you're trying to promote.
Those responsible for the granite monument have promised to fix the errors.
Also from the God Machine this week:
* A discouraging court ruling last night: "A federal judge Friday night sided with a Christian publishing company in a lawsuit against the requirement included in Obamacare to provide co-pay free contraception to employees. US District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton issued a temporary stay on the rule. The company, Tyndale House Publishers, sued to be exempt from providing any contraception it equated with abortion, including Plan B and intrauterine devices (neither is actually an abortifacient)."
* The Rev. Franklin Graham claimed this week that President Obama only won because "evangelicals did not go to the polls." In reality, evangelical turnout went up as compared to 2008, and they voted Republican in greater numbers than four years ago.
* As if Oklahoma's Ten Commandments display weren't troubling enough, a state judge this week ordered a teenager accused of manslaughter to attend church services every Sunday for 10 years (thanks to reader E.W. for the tip).
* Voters in Florida crushed Amendment 8, a ballot measure that would have allowed state officials to use public funds to subsidize religious ministries. Despite the enthusiastic support of the religious right and Roman Catholic leaders, the measure lost 61 of the state's 67 counties en route to an 11-point defeat.
* Note to those using "Jesus" as an online password: it's one of the "most frequently used and easily guessable log-in phrases" (thanks to reader R.P. for the tip).
* And radical TV preacher Pat Robertson excused David Petraeus' sex scandal this week, arguing that the former CIA director is "a man" who was overcome by "a good-looking lady throwing herself at him."
Leave a Comment:
The picture is of the Ten commandments monument at the Texas State Capitol, not the Oklahoma State Capitol. The building in the mid-ground is the Texas Supreme Court and Court of Criminal appeals and the building behind the monument is the John H. Reagan Building. Here's the same picture used with a June 2005 article about a similiar controversy in Texas, the caption clearly identifies the picture as being of the Texas capitol grounds: http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2005/06/27/national/27cnd-texas.ready.html
Look at Daniel with the big brain! Nice call!
Good catch Daniel!
It isn't a terribly unfamiliar location to me (though not a frequent drive-by). While the photo seemed familiar..it didn't "click" until I read your post. Thanks!
Daniel, thanks for this. I passed this along to Steve.
It's not a big deal, I used to work at the Texas Capitol and just did a double take when I saw the picture. I noticed that ya'll changed the picture. Unless the monument in Oklahoma is identical to the one in Texas this is still a picture of the Texas Monument. Here's a picture from the Texas state preservation board: http://www.tspb.state.tx.us/spb/gallery/MonuList/10lg.htm
What do you know, the monuments ARE identical! That explains the confusion. Here's the dedication plaque of the Oklahoma monument http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/10-Commandments-Oklahoman.jpg and here's the Texas Monument where you can clearly read the dedication plaque http://www.tspb.state.tx.us/spb/gallery/MonuList/10lg.htm
This makes the story even stranger:
This makes the story even stranger (Daniel Williams #29.5)
Actually, it is just more evidence that the spelling isn't strange at all. The idea that there is one and only correct spelling for every word in English is a relatively modern notion. Prior to the late 19th century, the English spelling rules used by educated people resulted in a range of different spellings for a given word all being considered correct. (Note: there were still rules —every spelling wasn't considered correct.)
The King James translation of the bible (KJV) was done in the early 17th century, when v and u were freely interchangeable in the spelling rules, as were unstressed terminal -ath and -eth. Given that the KJV is considered the definitive inerrant word of God by various Protestant, especially Evangelical, denominations, it should be no surprise that the text used in some modernly created monuments preserves not only the thees and thous, but also the seruants and Sabbeths of 17th century editions of the KJV.
So, the spelling used on the two monuments (and undoubtedly others) is not a sign of ignorance —but mocking the spelling, or "correcting" it, undoubtably is.
You could make that case if the spelling was consistent in it's replacement principles. It's not. And we are currently in a modern spelling era. That means it is in fact perfectly reasonable to expect modern spelling unless one is specifically attempting to spell in an older format. This monument is not, and that can be proven by the mixed word and grammar formats that do not conform to any single time period.
They made a spelling mistake. Deal with it.
Teenager sentenced: Why don't they just strap him down to a table, tie his eyes open with clamps, and show him inspirational videos?....oh, wait...somebody already thought of that. My bad.
Really, that judge out to be proscribed for meting out cruel and unusuall punishment!
A religious "minister" excusing the behavior of a cheating husband. Religious hypocrisy at it's best!!!!
I believe there is a special Hell for hypocrites. I heard God takes away their backbones and makes them slither through life and troll on Maddow's blogs!!
And for those people who don't know me: "snark"
Perhaps devotees of other religions should get to put up stone monuments as well. A little bit of Torah for Jews, Quran for Muslims, Rig Veda for Hindus... and the Xenu story for Scientologists. How cool would that be?
I think I remember something similar happening in Texas (without the mis-spelling).
Somebody put the Commandments on the grounds of the Capitol building in Austin. But first of all, Austin, Texas is very liberal, progressive (voted almost 65% for Obama) and was not about to allow Texans out-of-town small-minded Fundamentalists come in to Austin and start planting their stuff on the capitol grounds.
Not in this lifetime. The Commandments came down soon after, if I remember correctly..
ALL the large cities n Texas voted heavily Democratic for Obama. But there's usually some little town out in the hinterlands that none of the rest of us *ever* heard of, trying to come into the city and pull tricks like that.
They don't understand Austin progressives have *always* been majority Democratic, liberals since before the Civil War when Austin voted WITH the Union, and AGAINST the Confederacy.
Texas' capital city has been majority Dem, progressive, liberal ever since. Not once, not *one* presidential election since 1864-5 have Austinites EVER voted majority Republican in a presidential election. Not ever. None.
So watch out in Texas, trying to plant those Bible verses at OUR capitol building ever again. Ain't gonna happen; they'll never stay without Austinites permission.
whoops, okay I spoke too soon.
The Federal Court voted to keep the commandments. Okay Okay.
Don't send me a lot of snarky mail.
Nevertheless, what I say, still stands. Federal court barely voting to let the commandments stay OR NOT, Austinites and Texans in our cities don't approve of this sort of religious display on our capitol building grounds.
Never have. Never will.
Never mind the spelling. The Okies in question are probably sighing with relief that the commandment in question technically left sheep still in play.
Now I get it.
a woman's body can shut down the consequences of a legitimate rape but a man's body can't determine the woman is saying no in the first place. It can't say to itself - "better not put this thing up, seems like she's struggling a bit."
an attractive woman can throw herself at a man who has been trained to use great discipline especially if she runs iron men events and he will succumb just because he's a man.
no wonder they want to be in charge of everything...
Well, I don't think that Kelly woman does "Ironman" events - she'd probably have a severely bruised face from all that "silicone" whiplash....
speaking of the ten commandments in public places
Roy Moore, forever known as Alabama's Ten Commandments judge, has been re-elected chief justice in a triumphant political resurrection after being ousted from that office nearly a decade ago.
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2012/11/roy_moore_bob_vance_chief_just.html
hurricane22 banned, trolling everyone, including Ms. Maddow. Not a good look - she's a public figure, but this is her online home.
in additional "twig" news....
A First Amendment watchdog group is suing the Internal Revenue Service for failing to challenge the tax-exempt status of churches whose pastors engage in partisan politicking from the pulpit.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which advocates total separation of church and state, filed the lawsuit Wednesday (Nov. 14) in U.S. District Court in Western Wisconsin, where the 19,000-member organization is based.
The lawsuit claims that as many as 1,500 pastors engaged in “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” on Sunday, Oct. 7, when pastors endorsed one or more candidates, which is a violation of IRS rules for non-profit organizations.
The lawsuit also challenges the legality of several full-page newspaper advertisements paid for by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, another 501 (c) (3), that exhorted voters to vote along “biblical principles.” The ads ran after Graham met with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and promised to do “all I can” to support his campaign.
http://www.religionnews.com/politics/government-and-politics/atheists-sue-irs-for-failure-to-monitor-church-politicking
Lawrence O'Donnell had a very interesting take on the Petraeus issue. He observed that so-called marital fidelity is not really the issue. When it comes to sex with someone other than one's marriage partner, many marriages either a) outright encourage it, b) condone it, or c) prohibit but forgive it. The real issue, according to LO'D, is the poor judgement Petraeus exercised in leaving a document trail of over 10,000 e-mails. Someone heading up the nation's top intelligence agency should have known better.
Religions, like ones genitalia are interesting and sometimes fun ! But both are rathter personal things and should be be kept just between friends ...................... and NEVER 'forced' on anyone.
some additional data on which religious groups voted for romney and obama
“The changing religious landscape is presenting a real challenge to the strategy that relies on motivated white Christians, particularly white evangelical Christians,” said Public Religion Research Institute Research Director Dan Cox.
“They’re still turning out at similar levels as they did in previous elections, but their size in comparison to other groups is shrinking.”
http://publicreligion.org/research/2012/11/american-values-post-election-survey-2012/
That is NOT Oklahoma. Where are you people getting your mis-information?
That's in Texas; and please see my other post from a few moments ago.
Austin, Texas (the capital) has been liberal, progressive since before the Civil War when we voted WITH the Union, and against the Confederacy.
People from out-of-town, some of the little towns in the hinterlands of Texas try stunts like this often. But nothing will stay put, if it doesn't pass muster with Austin's progressive community of Democrats.
Not unless we give you permission to get by with it. Correctly spelled or not. IF (ad thats a big IF) stuff like that stays? It's ONLY because, out of the goodness of our hearts, Austin 1.75 million/metro liberals have only seen fit to show more tolerance to the Bible thumpers than they ever show to the rest of us.
Just a reminder, ALL Texas cities voted predominately Democratic, pro-Obama. And Austin, Texas, speaking for our county alone, of 1.75 million metro, we just voted almost 65% Obama.
So good luck trying to pull many stunts like this as long as the capitol building is in Austin. Ha!
I am 8th generation Texan, my 7th GrGrandfather fought at the Battle of San Jacinto (he was the one who started yelling "Remember the Alamo!").
The only, I mean ONLY reason the GOP has dominated Texas in the last few years has been ONLY because of the illegal GERRYMANDERING they pulled off in 2004; lately the federal court said is illegal.
Soon we'll be back to being a BLUE state like we were with Pres.Lyndon B. Johnson (Equal Rights Amendment 1965, Medicare, etc. thank you LBJ from the Austin area, Hill Country); and in the 1990s our Gov. Ann Richards (D), R.I.P.
Most Texans in our large cities Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, etc.) do NOT tolerate much of the fundamental crud that the small-town rednecks try dragging into our cities. Nope.
If you get by with it temporarily, consider yourself to have 'lucked out' for once.
well at least general didnt shag a bimbo , she is a smart broad..
wow, tc - great stuff
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/2012/11/14/paula-broadwell-switched-her-phd-bid-from-harvard-british-college/u0uOkzdrm7q6x0leL2DyCM/story.html
of possible interest...
a new documentary from director alex gibney connects individual stories from catholic sex abuse victims with the larger cover-up by the vatican.
-----------------
"This is obviously about the church, but it's also a crime film," he said. "It's about abuse of power and it's about how institutions instead of reckoning with problems try to cover them up. It's always the cover-up that creates the problem."
http://news.yahoo.com/film-defrocks-church-hierarchy-over-handling-sex-abuse-123202402.html
and in an odd "twig" story out of utah....
"A case involving a weeping religious icon at a Greek Orthodox Church has exploded into accusations of deception, mutual recriminations, denunciations of disbelief, letters to higher ecclesiastical authorities in Denver and a call to remove the parish’s head priest.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/lifestyle/55237937-80/icon-oil-wrote-kouremetis.html.csp
and an addition "twig" story involving teenagers
BARNESVILLE, Minn. – The teenager who was not confirmed at the Catholic church here after he publicly supported same-sex marriage of Facebook was not the only student who was denied the religious sacrament over his backing of gay marriage, the church's priest said in a letter made public Friday.
http://www.parkrapidsenterprise.com/event/article/id/34911/group/homepage/
The greatest crime in the Catholic Church is thinking for yourself!!
Regarding the Ten Commandments.....what can you expect from people who believe everything in the Bible is true.....and totally forget it was actually written by MEN,,in several different versions no less.
Those Commandments have NO business on that property. They should have placed the Constitution there so they could read it daily and maybe learn to uphold it!
Well, when you revel in ignorance and stale parable, what are a couple of spelling errors in comparison? Teach a man to fish and suddenly it's biblical.. Idiots..
It's called separation of church and state for a REASON.
people need to quit promoting the christian fairy tale
keep your religion to yourself.
Of the ten commandments, theft and murder are the only ones we as a society still hold illegal. The rest, respect for parents, one deity, coveting wives, keeping sabbath, adultery, lying and using gods name are all things we as a free and enlightened society have sanely decided not to legally impose on our citizens.
Theft and Murder are of course illegal in every culture pretty much throughout history. The ten commandments therefore have no relevance to modern law except to show us religious based prohibitions which we wisely reject.
of course the definitions continue to change -
see stoning of big mouthed children
That's another important point. There are many things advocated and commanded in the bible that if one did today we would arrest and possibly execute them as a result. Legally the bible is more a book of criminal acts then legal ones.
I wonder if we could get someone to fund a monument with the Commandments of Islam next to this one?
Come ON people, LIGHTEN UP!
The election is over - you CAN have a sense of humor again!
This stuff about OK and Pat Robertson is just FUNNY!!
OK first: Now how many states are willing to put up a statue that tells the rest of the country: "Yep, we are as stupid as the rest of you thought we were"? That takes real balls!!
And then Pat Robertson and Propinquity. You know if that woman sitting next to him isn't his wife......yep! Propinquity!!!
As for that Patraeus, Allen, Kelly, Broadwell, et al. debacle - you ever hear of a funnier soap opera? I swear that old TV show SOAP had NOTHING on them!!!
OOOPS! I should have said "some of you people". There have been some posters who have seen the humor in all this!!!
The only people that need to be giving forgiveness any thought are the respective spouses. It seems to me that those who are affiliated with a religious organisation and choose to speak publicly about other people's indiscretions are found later to have been guilty of the same behavior.