BY SHARON MARTIN

Around here, we see it all the time. The Ten Commandments are stuck on the tailgates of pickups, on signs in people’s yards, taped in windows.

I believe in the Ten Commandments. We shouldn’t lie, cheat, or steal. We shouldn’t want what someone else has. We should respect our parents. We shouldn’t kill. We should honor the divine, including the earth and sea that nurture us. We should take a day off to rest and worship.

These are good rules by which to live. It doesn’t matter what religion you choose or if you choose no religion at all. But it appears to me that most of the people who post the commandments are doing it for the wrong reason: they want to shut out people who don’t worship as they do.

And too many pick and choose the commandments they’ll follow. The main sticking point seems to be this one: “Thou shalt not kill.”

Thou shalt not kill a fetus, but it is OK to starve the mother and child after the baby is born.

Thou shalt not kill, unless it is a criminal. Then, we will arrange a state-sanctioned killing.

Thou shalt not kill, unless the people in charge have named someone to be an enemy. Then we will train you to kill. Then, when you come home from war, angry and sickened by what you’ve done, we might take care of you, but probably not because it costs too much money.

If we honor the Ten Commandments, we have to honor the codes of other religions because our Constitution guarantees us the freedom to worship as we choose. If we honor the Ten Commandments, we have to seek peace. God didn’t mince words – thou shalt not kill.

It’s not about the symbols of our religion but the practice.

Now, should we close all business establishments on Saturday or Sunday?

– Sharon Martin lives in Oilton, OK and is a regular contributor to The Oklahoma Observer