Ten Commandments, zero context
Many lawmakers want to see the commandments displayed in public schools. Are they also interested in the Hebrew Bible’s ethical demands?
The Texas Senate has approved a bill requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms in public schools. This follows hard on the heels of a similar bill in Louisiana that is presently tied up in the judicial system. These initiatives seem likely to race each other to the US Supreme Court.
It is understandable, in some ways, that many Christian policymakers want this text from the Hebrew Bible displayed in the spaces where their children are educated. And yet it is curious to consider how the text aligns with the MAGA agenda. In their original context, the Ten Commandments are a call to share God’s good gifts with one another, instructions for building a society of mutual care. God gives the Ten Commandments as a counterpoint to the oppression of slavery that ancient Israel experienced in ancient Egypt less than three months earlier. These laws are meant to shape ancient Israelite society to be a place where every person can thrive, in contrast to the exploitation that has bound them.
This raises a sharp question for Texas policymakers: Will those Christians who cherish these laws enough to have them displayed in every public classroom also submit to their prophetic call?
