Which Ten Commandments Should We Post in Public Places?
by Jim Burklo | 30 January 2025 |
What are popularly known as the Ten Commandments appear in slightly different forms in Exodus chapter 20 and Deuteronomy chapter 5 in the Hebrew scriptures. But they’re among over 600 other commandments that the scripture says were transmitted to Moses by God.
As certain state governments raise the timeworn demand that they be posted prominently in schools, we have to ask: why stop at ten? Limiting the list is an example of “cafeteria Christianity”–which fundamentalist and progressive and Catholic and every other kind of Christian practices all the time.
The Bible does not specify that what we call the Ten Commandments are any more important than the very many others that Moses passed down to the people. So why not post all of the hundreds of them? Or at least post different lists of ten?
I offer the list below.
Ten (of the) commandments
- “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the native-born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the your God.” Leviticus 19: 33-34. (An inconvenient commandment for people of a particular political persuasion today…)
- “You shall not make gods of silver alongside me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.” Exodus 20: 23. (Likewise!)
- “You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.” Exodus 22: 19. (Jews interpreted this to mean that you can’t cook or serve meat with milk from the same animal. No more cheeseburgers or lasagna for you – sorry.)
- “If someone leaves a pit open or digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit shall make restitution, giving money to its owner but keeping the dead animal.” Exodus 21: 33-34. (An unpleasant source of a steak!)
- “The person who has the defiling disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head be disheveled, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.” Leviticus 13: 45-46. (If you have eczema or acne, you’re out….)
- “When a woman has a discharge of blood that is a menstrual discharge from her body, she shall be in her impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. Everything upon which she lies during her impurity shall be unclean; everything also upon which she sits shall be unclean.” Leviticus 15: 19-24. (Sorry, ladies, you’re on lockdown during your periods—and seven days after!)
- “You shall not let your animals breed with a different kind; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; nor shall you put on a garment made of two different materials.” Leviticus 19: 19. (Toss all your clothes and shoes that are made of combinations of different kinds of cloth or leather – they are an abomination to God.)
- “If a man has sexual relations with a woman who is a slave, designated for another man but not ransomed or given her freedom, an inquiry shall be held. They shall not be put to death, since she has not been freed, but he shall bring a guilt offering for himself to the Lord.…” Leviticus 19: 20-21. (This one ought to leave us speechless.)
- “When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as the Lord’s offering by fire. But you shall not slaughter, from the herd or the flock, an animal with its young on the same day.” Leviticus 22: 27-28. (Not okay to kill a baby animal when it is newborn, but fine to kill it a week later? A potent argument for vegetarianism, is it not?)
- “You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard. You shall not make any gashes in your flesh for the dead or tattoo any marks upon you….” Leviticus 19:27-28. (Men, toss those trimmers and hide those tats!)
I present these not because they’re my favorites, but rather to illustrate just how messy it gets when a particular faith tradition is promoted in taxpayer-funded schools and buildings.
Jim Burklo is an ordained United Church of Christ pastor. In 2022 he retired after 14 years as the Senior Associate Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life at the University of Southern California. He now serves as pastor of the United Church of Christ in Simi Valley, California. He also serves as executive director of Progressive Christians Uniting/ZOE: Progressive Christian Life on Campus, a national network of progressive Christian campus ministry groups. Jim is the author of seven published books on progressive faith: the latest is Tenderly Calling: An Invitation to the Way of Jesus (St Johann Press, 2021). His weekly blog, “Musings,” has a global audience. Jim and his wife, Roberta, live in Ojai, California.