RRN Online Volume 327

September 07 '02

Volume 327

Legalism Woes Ten Commandments/ First Ammendment

Persons of the Jewish and Christian faiths call them "The Ten Commandments." They are concisely worded phrases that set forth guidelines for man's relationship with God, his Creator, and man's relationship with mankind. Supposedly, Moses received the commandments directly from God while visiting Him on Mt. Sinai. Granted, Moses may have concocted them, based upon his formal education as the adopted son of the daughter of an Egyptian Pharaoh, but I'll side with those choosing to believe them channeled from God to Moses, if for no other reason than their relevance today has survived the test of time for several thousand years.

I am continually amazed at how we humans manage to mess up that which God gives us. We've done a pretty good job of abusing our environment, and if those who point to the hole in the ozone layer are correct about its effect upon global warming, then our planet may be irreparably harmed if not doomed.

God instituted and blessed the institutions of marriage and the home, but more than half of those marrying today will experience divorce within a few years. After all, just because God sanctions something, it doesn't mean we're bound to sustain it. Often, it seems we willfully set about to destroy it or at least modify it.

Consider the Ten Commandments, particularly the commandment to keep the seventh day of the week holy. God figured a working man or woman should take off one day a week and develop a richer spiritual relationship with his or her Creator. Since there's a bit of work involved in keeping a day holy, man (or was that organized labor) reasoned "all work and no play make Jack a dull boy." Thus, modifying God's provision for a day off, man opted to take off Saturday as well as Sunday. (Oh, don't bother me with specifics about which day is the "Sabbath" and don't point out that some folks work on Sunday and not everyone is off on Saturday…just humor me.)

As badly as we do in keeping the Sabbath holy, the Jewish leaders of Jesus' day put us to shame with the burdens of law they placed upon their fellow Jews. They had volumes and volumes of laws and interpretations of laws all based upon the simple Ten Commandments first given to Moses. The way I see it, most Jews were glad when the Sabbath was over, so they could get some relief from all the work that went into keeping the Sabbath. The only thing comparable today is those who try to cram so many activities into a weekend that they are exhausted and look forward to the workweek to get some rest.

The founding fathers of this nation sought to set forth in our Constitution guiding principles of self-government that would serve the needs of the new republic and among other things safeguard the rights and freedoms we now take for granted. Yet, at the time, memories of taxation without representation, debtor's prisons, and state-sponsored religion were still fresh.

Written more than two hundred years ago, but just as relevant today, the first amendment to the Constitution states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

It is the first part of the amendment that we call "The Establishment Clause." It's content is a flowery way of saying that the government cannot pick a religion for the people, and neither can government prevent anyone from having a religious faith. What part of that is hard to understand?

As I see it, government is not to be about the business of promoting or endorsing any particular religion, and certainly not to the point of declaring a national church for everyone as did the British in choosing the Church of England for the official national church. The second part of "The Establishment Clause" deals with protecting the religious freedom of every citizen by disallowing government to interfere with the desire of any citizen to worship as he or she chooses.

"The Establishment Clause" when read straight out of the first ten amendments to the Constitution is as clear to the average American as was the biblical commandment regarding the Sabbath to the Jew when Moses gave the law to the Children of Israel. One simply does not need a lawyer to understand either. In fact, lawyers can be blamed for adding layer upon layer of legal complexity to both the Ten Commandments and the First Amendment.

In Jesus' day lawyers had layered so many do's and don’ts on keeping the Sabbath Holy that the spirit of the commandment was lost beneath all the burdens. In our day, the courts have layered so many rulings upon the first amendment that the spirit of intent of the amendment is lost beneath the various findings.

Courts have ruled that displaying the Ten Commandments in a courthouse violates the first amendment, as does administration-sponsored prayer in public schools, prayers at high school graduation ceremonies and high school football games. Even the inclusion of the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance has been challenged as unconstitutional.

Michael Newdow, the lawyer who challenged the constitutionality of " under God" in the Pledge, has now sued the government over use of congressional chaplains. Robert Siegel of National Public Radio interviewed Mr. Newdow who claims, "It is unconstitutional for taxpayer-funded chaplains to pray in Congress and minister to lawmakers."

I respectfully disagree with Mr. Newdow, and I fail to see how the use of congressional chaplains remotely hints of establishing a religion. Thanks to our courts, lawyers, and self-serving individuals we've become a nation hamstrung by our own laws. Oddly, Mr. Newdow finds no problem with chaplains in the military and chaplains in hospitals. When asked whether or not using representatives of all religious faiths would influence his opposition to paid chaplains, Mr. Newdow stated he would still object. Apparently, atheists, like other minorities, are selective in their indignation.

Previous court rulings have upheld the right of Congress to pay a chaplain for his services. It remains to be seen whether that will be the case this time. Meanwhile, don't expect lawyers and atheists to give up their fight.

Mulch Man James Lee Saxon

You might say I was almost speechless the other evening when my wife shared in a phone conversation, "Your mulch man died today."

James Lee Saxon, age 58, died of a heart attack at his home on Tuesday, August 27^th. I’d never thought of James as my mulch man, but it’s a fitting description. I don’t recall buying bulk mulch from anyone else. I was almost speechless, because James Lee (his wife always use his double name) was about my age, and I consider that as being too young to die.

James, his wife Carolyn, and daughters Dawn and Christy, were all once members of First Baptist Church. I may have been in a Sunday School class with James, but I’m not sure. Dawn is married to Randy Moss, custodian of FBC, so she remains one of our members. At some point James and Carolyn joined the membership of a church in the county, and I sort of lost touch with him until I started buying mulch from his nursery a few years ago.

Of the multiple trips I’ve made in "Old Blue" to buy mulch, I’ve seen James there less than fifty percent of the time. I was impressed the day Carolyn climbed onto the Ford tractor and operated the front-end loader with as much skill as I had seen James use.

Barbara, Sarah, and I stopped by the funeral home Wednesday night to pay our respects to the family of James Lee Saxon. Most of them were like us in that we had not gotten over the shock of loosing a friend so suddenly.

I’ve heard that most victims of a heart attack are usually forewarned of their danger by recognizable symptoms that include chest pain and numbness in the left arm. James had been to the doctor the previous day and had been told he needed to have some tests run, because the EKG indicated he, at some earlier time, had a heart attack. Because James was self-employed and without hospitalization insurance, he was unwilling to undergo further testing.

It’s hard to say which was the greater tragedy, no insurance or failure to heed the doctor’s advice. In the former, it should be noted that, for an individual not employed by a corporation or employer having a group insurance plan in which half or more of the costs are borne by the employer, the costs of health insurance policies are astronomically high and beyond the ability of most individuals to purchase.

In the latter instance, I would note that persons who subscribe to the notion that we won’t die until our number is up should consider the case of James Lee as an instance in which an individual directly affected the date of his own demise. While it may be true that there exists an appointed time for each to die, I firmly believe "the time" depends upon the choices an individual makes. Sadly, James Lee ignored the warnings and moved his number closer to the front of the list. Someone suggested to me that he might have died had he been in the hospital at the time, but I believe he would have had a far better chance of surviving.

There are recorded instances where persons aboard sailing ships of yesteryear experienced shipwreck and ultimately drowned while seeking to hold onto their bags of gold rather than release them and live. I don’t mean this critically, but perhaps that’s the case with James, for I knew him to be a frugal man.

As I spoke to his widow at the funeral home I mentioned to her that James once told me he had to teach her how to buy groceries. She laughed, not fully understanding my comment, and remarked that James always enjoyed talking to me. I went on to explain that he had said his wife, in the early years of their marriage, would buy all sorts of junk foods like potato chips and snacks rather than purchase mealtime staples like potatoes, flour, meal, etc.

That was about as much detail as I was comfortable in sharing at the time, but here’s my recollection of that earlier conversation with James. "Yeah, Carolyn didn’t know how to spend her grocery money back then. I told her we could get by on her cooking and not to waste money on junk foods."

"You still work for Sunflower?" he asked.

"Not in a store, but I still work for the same company, Lewis Grocer." I responded.

"You ever been to Stokes in New Albany?" he wanted to know. "You can save some money up there; they've got some good bargains."

"I know the discount store; that’s were Pat Hadaway cuts meat. I’ve been there and checked it out, but I've never shopped there," I responded and stopped short of explaining that a "cost plus 10%" store wasn't necessarily a bargain in all respects.

"Well, it’s like I told Carolyn," he continued, "we can go over to Malone's, you know where that is, right, and eat all the catfish we can hold for about twenty dollars. But, I can go to Stokes and buy a couple of cans of pink salmon, she can fry some of the best salmon patties ever and make some of that gravy to go with her homemade biscuits, and when I get up from the table at home, my belly is just as full as when I eat at Malone's, and we’ve spent less than two dollars."

I don’t know about others, but to me, it takes a frugal individual to equate the goodness of a salmon patty to that of fried catfish.

I hope Carolyn will be able to keep the nursery open, because I will still need bulk mulch from somewhere. I’ll miss seeing James Lee, talking to him, and enjoying his country demeanor. James Lee Saxon was unique in many respects, not the least of which was in being my "mulch man."

Bodock Beau Perks Games And Signs

I've the feeling someone changed the age limit on the following. Seems to me it should have been entitled, "Perks Of Being Over 60." Nonetheless, thanks go to Dena Kimbrell for sending all of the following our way.

THE PERKS OF BEING OVER 40

1. Kidnappers are not very interested in you.
2. In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.
3. No one expects you to run into a burning building.
4. People call at 9 PM and ask, "Did I wake you?"
5. People no longer view you as a hypochondriac.
6. There is nothing left to learn the hard way.
7. Things you buy now won't wear out.
8. You can eat dinner at 4 P.M.
9. You can live without sex but not without glasses.
10. You enjoy hearing about other peoples operations.
11. You get into heated arguments about pension plans.
12. You have a party and the neighbors don't even realize it.
13. You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.
14. You quit trying to hold your stomach in, no matter who walks into the room.
15. You sing along with elevator music.
16. Your eyes won't get much worse.
17. Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.
18. Your joints are more accurate meteorologists than the national weather service.
19. Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.
20. Your supply of brain cells is finally down to manageable size.
21. You can't remember who sent you this list.

GAMES FOR WHEN WE ARE OLDER

1. Sag, You're it.
2. Pin the toupee on the bald guy.
3. 20 questions shouted into your good ear.
4. Kick the bucket.
5. Red Rover, Red Rover, the nurse says Bend Over.
6. Doc Gooser.
7. Simon says something incoherent.
8. Hide and go pee.
9. Spin the Bottle of Mylanta.
10. Musical recliners.

SIGNS OF MENOPAUSE

1. You sell your home heating system at a yard sale.

2. Your husband jokes that instead of buying a wood stove, he is using you to heat the family room this winter. Rather than just saying you are not amused you shoot him.

3. You have to write post-it notes with your kids' names on them.

4. The Phenobarbital dose that wiped out the Heaven's Gate Cult gives you four hours of decent rest.

5. You change your underwear after every sneeze.

6. You're on so much estrogen that you take your Brownie troop on a field trip to Chippendale's.

SIGNS OF WEAR

"OLD" IS WHEN..... Your sweetie says, "Let's go upstairs and make love,"and you answer, "Pick one, I can't do both!"

"OLD" IS WHEN..... Your friends compliment You on your new alligator shoes and you're barefoot.

"OLD" IS WHEN..... A sexy babe catches your fancy and your pacemaker opens the garage door.

"OLD" IS WHEN..... Going bra-less pulls all the wrinkles out of your face.

"OLD" IS WHEN..... You don't care where your spouse goes, just as long as you don't have to go along.

"OLD" IS WHEN..... You are cautioned to slow down by the doctor instead of by the police.

"OLD" IS WHEN..... "Getting a little action" means I don't need to take any fiber today.

"OLD" IS WHEN..... "Getting lucky" means you find your car in the parking lot.

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