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How
to Interpret the Ten Commandments
An attempt at legal analysis of Biblical law following Gonzalesian
logic.
by Deborah Kory
Thankfully, Gonzales finally straightened out two centuries of
muddle-headed lawmaking the other day when he testified in front of the Senate
Judiciary Committee regarding government surveillance.
Being the chief of the worlds largest law office has got to be one tough
job. The U.S Constitution is, like, really complicated. For example, Section
8, Powers of Congress, states that Congress shall have the power to grant Letters
of Marque. Whoa, is that French? And Under Section 9, Limits of Congress,
it states, no bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
Latin! Who but the best among us study Latin? You have to be, like, a scholar
to even read the Constitution. I mean, theres stuff that seems understandable
because its written in plain English, like, In all criminal prosecutions,
the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, but obviously
speedy and public are Latin terms that a layperson like
me is not meant to understand; otherwise the whole Guantanamo thing just wouldnt
make sense. And since, as Attorney General Alberto Gonzales states, the whole
Guantanamo thing is perfectly legal, it also must make sense.
Whew! Having super smart people interpret the Constitution for
us makes me feel so much safer. Left to my own devices, I might incorrectly
believe that the amendment against involuntary servitude applied
to all those illegal brown people (slavery only applies to Blacks, right?) crawling
over our border taking away our servitude. Its just so confusing!
The other day, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales proved just how knuckleheaded
the American people are (our low standard of education should be a crime!).
Theres this thing in the Constitution called habeus corpus which you have
to write in italics because its Latin. Anyways, I guess for over two hundred
years Americans have assumed (remember when you assume you make an ass
out of u and me) that habeas corpuswhich according
to my dictionary is a writ for inquiring into the lawfulness of the restraint
of a person who is imprisoned or detained in anothers custody applied
to everyone under the Constitution. Well, thankfully, Gonzales finally straightened
out two centuries of muddle-headed lawmaking the other day when he testified
in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding government surveillance.
Senator Specter was challenging him about the whole Guantanamo thing and the
Supreme Courts ruling in Hamdan vs. Rumsfeld that under the Constitution,
the detainees have a right to habeas corpus. Well, obviously the Attorney General
has a bigger say than the Supreme Court on such matters, because according to
him there is no express grant of habeas in the Constitution. Then
Specter was like, Wait a minute. The Constitution says you cant
take it away, except in the case of rebellion or invasion. Doesnt that
mean you have the right of habeas corpus, unless there is an invasion or rebellion?
And Gonzales was like, The Constitution doesn't say that every individual
in the United States or every citizen has or is assured the right of habeas
corpus. It doesn't say that. It simply says that the right of habeas corpus
shall not be suspended. Oooohhhh, I get it. If the law doesnt say
stuff really specifically, then it doesnt apply in any big universal kind
of way; and if it doesnt say something in the affirmative but just says
you cant take it away, without specifying from whom, then
its all totally relative! You could tell Senator Specter was so blown
away by the brilliance of this guys logic, and you could tell the Attorney
General was right because he had this all-knowing Mona Lisa smile on his face.
God, I wish I had gone to law school. I would know how to really
think about stuff. The thing is, since Im just a nobody. I know I dont
have any right to interpret legal texts or even really have opinions about things,
but I can at least try to emulate the brilliant logic of Attorney General Gonzales
by practicing it myself--and slowly, over time, I might one day be able to automatically
shoot down peoples arguments with a cool one-liner, a wink and a smile.
So Im going to start off with another legal-ish text that on its surface
seems real straightforward, and see if I can put Gonzales logic to use
to re-interpret it for the post-9/11 world. Weve gotta learn to look at
everything differently now that 9/11 happened. As Bob Dylan said, the
times they are a changin, but I prefer the old Latin panton
est diversus iam.
Okay--here goes. My attempt at the Ten Commandments following
Gonzalesian logic:
1. I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before
me.
Since it does not explicitly state that God exists outside the borders of the
United States, God must not exist outside of the United States. In fact, God
IS the United States and the President is our Popeexcept the Pope is Catholic
and German and the Germans are godless Communists and we failed to extinguish
Communism in Vietnam and therefore must extinguish Islamism in the Middle East.
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven
above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
There is no explicit mention here of oil. It is totally fine to make an idol
out of oil and to watch "American Idol." Guantanamo is surrounded
by water, out of which the Leftist Jew-dominated media has created a Golden
Calf in its own terrorist-sympathizer image.
3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
Notice theres no mention here of Allah. Catch my drift?
4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
It doesnt say here that you cant lynch foreign dictators on the
Sabbath and since there is no other Sabbath than the Christian Sabbath, there
are no other Holy Days. Keeping it holy is the same as keepin
it real which is the same as keepin it simple, which
means dont overthink things for Christs sake!
5. Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land.
No clause here about honoring your daddy once you succeed him as President.
If that happens, all bets are off. You show him whos boss!
6. You shall not murder.
As long as you dont murder someone, everything else you do to him is totally
permissible. Dress em in black hoods, electrocute em, unleash dogs
on em and dont let em sleep! If they should happen to experience
organ failure as a result of your interrogation techniques, that is so not your
problem! The doctors will exonerate you with their death certificates, and it
doesnt say anything about doctoring death certificates here, so--blessings
all!
7. You shall not commit adultery.
Since adultery contains the word adult, it is okay to have sex with
children. It is also okay to send children into a war under false pretenses.
You know why? Cause it doesnt say you cant!
8. You shall not steal.
There is no explicit mention here about paying contractors billions and billions
of dollars to take ownership over and reconstruct nations that we destroy. Also,
there is no need to hold them accountable or ask them to share some of their
profits with the natives. Stealing is what people do in liquor stores and that
is totally forbidden.
9. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
This is one of those rare occasions when the law is meant to be taken totally
literally. If you live at 22 Lincoln Avenue, dont testify falsely against
the guy living at 24 Lincoln Avenue, 20 Lincoln Avenue, or even the guy across
the street at 23. Do, however, feel free to testify in secret military tribunals
with false evidence if it will help keep America safe. Just make sure it isnt
your NEIGHBOR neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbors house. You shall
not covet your neighbors wife...or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
This ones kinda like the last one, only it has more to do with your intentions.
Do not take other peoples stuff, their wives, their nations or their lives
unless you feel in your heart that it will make them free. If you have that
freedom feeling and not that covetous feeling, then history will look kindly
upon you no matter how many people have to die for your cause!
Deborah
Kory, of Berkeley, Calif., is a graduate student and
a member of the Network of Spiritual Progressives.
By permission of author
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