MOSES
In the news as I write is an account of a businessman in Essex who discovered one of his employees had stolen £845 from the company accounts by falsely issuing a cheque payable to himself. The businessman was infuriated and wrote out a sign saying I AM A THIEF I STOLE £845 AND AM ON MY WAY TO THE POLICE STATION. He then required the employee to wear this as he called the police. The end result was that the man who stole the money and admitted that he had done so was given a caution by the police and the employer, whose company had already lost £845, was sued by the thief resulting in damages and costs amounting to £13,000.00p The 8th of the Ten Commandments that were, according to Exodus Ch.20 handed down by God to Moses, is: You shall not steal. The result of doing so today is being told what a very naughty person one is and advised not to do it again. Then demand damges from the person or persons that apprehended you and grab some more money. That should do the trick eh!
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, the 1st of the Ten Commandments is: You shall have no other gods before me. According to the aforementioned text in Exodus the brother of Moses, Aaron, melted down all the gold from the holy temple and created a Golden Calf that the people all worshipped whilst Moses was away up a mountain in Egypt
Adoration of The Golden Calf
receiving carved stone tablets. They were, it seems, having quite a wild time, dancing, drinking and doing what comes naturally until the Big Ten was presented by Moses who was not at all amused by the shiny calf and smashed said stone tablets to pieces, destroyed the golden idol and ordered the revellers to cease and desist having fun immediately. Today we are surrounded by glittering idols and the very idea of devoting ones life to the worship of God is perhaps considered unusual. I mean give today¹s youth the choice between a fifty inch flat screen HD TV with X-Box attached and some 18 Rated gut-blaster interactive internet linked serial killer game or three Hymns and a lecture about the Sermon on the Mount what chance does Jesus really have?
Spiritualists do not, I feel, specifically subscribe to Christian beliefs but many, like myself, will have been raised in that gentle religious tradition. This being Great Britain we do have an established church headed by The Monarch. Most of us would, I feel, believe that the basic principles of Christianity, love thy neighbour, do unto others and you would have done unto you etc. are worthy. But as for abiding by the Ten Commandments, it just is not happening at all. I believe that this early 21st century society is in fact rapidly approaching a 180 degree about turn around. Here are some examples. (I have simplified the original text).
- No other gods: Hollywood, TV, the mass media create instant idols. Ask any young adult who Susan Boyle is
Susan Boyle
they will most likely know. Ask them the name of the prophet that brought the ten commandments to the people and you will get a blank stare.
- Create no images: Even the Christians disobey this commandment, just pop into a Catholic church and look around at the statues. Look out your front window some sunny Sunday morning see the true believers cleaning their cars. All around us we have our idols, be they Jaguar E-Types or Statues.
- Do not take the name of God in vain: Profanity and abuse using all available expletives are bombarding us daily from TV programmes such as the excremental Mock The Week to family soap-operas such as Eastenders.
- Keep the Sabbath day Holy: Sunday trading now allows virtually all shops, supermarkets etc. to open. It is gone, the Sabbath, it’s just another working day in effect, unless you are a banker then its clap hands Charlie and dip your bread.
- Honor your father and mother: In this post-industrial society we have seen the breakdown of the extended family. Support systems, children caring for aged parents, grandparents living in the same home, all that is of yesterday as the Me Me Me generation expects the Nanny State to look after the aged.
- You shall not kill: Believe me if you have never seen an X-Box or Play-Station battle game then you have no idea how at odds that commandment is with such programmes that are in effect teaching our children that murder and killing are good and the way to win.
- You shall not commit adultery: Whilst many still do hold to this basic nuclear family principle a great deal more do not. On television we can see programmes that appear to actively encourage infidelity with titles such as Wife Swop. Log on to the internet and within a short space of time you will soon discover exactly how far the idea of fidelity has travelled. Search MILF and stand by to be astounded.
- You shall not steal: See para 1. above. Theft is still a crime but the punishments are such as to make it appear almost socially acceptable. If young, a thief may get an ASBO and become a local celebrity. Seriously.
- You shall not bear false witness: Basically lying on oath in court is perjury and one can get some serious jail time, as Lord Archer found out. But only if you are caught bang to rights.
- You shall not covert your neighbour¹s property: Margaret Thatcher ended all that with her Greed is Good policy as the era of the Yuppie was born in the early 1980s. Now it is all overtaking the Jones¹ forget just keeping up.
Spiritually and morally this country is fast becoming bankrupt. Just look around and like Moses on his return from the mountain you will see the images of today’s idols: Aston-Martin cars, Ant & Dec, Rappers spouting filth, Simon Cowell Spice-Girl/Take-That wannabes and endless reality TV chancers. Now we have David Cameron’s Big Society idea, this is totally and absolutely impossible as long as we have virtual ghettos divided on Race, Religion and Riches all operating selfishly in their own interests. I can see we are heading back to where it all began, in Egypt with a modern day Moses bringing some sense to the nonsense of today.