Dorothy Brush "Random Thoughts" Published Jan. 8, 2003

The Ten Commandments
are under attack these days

It's a funny thing how so many of our elders considered the Ten Commandments mighty important to teach their offspring. Fast forward to the 2000s, and things have changed. Now those long-revered 10 rules for living a decent life are more and more under attack. Opponents consider the words religious and, thus, they may not appear in public places because of the separation of church and state.

Before Christmas one of the many gift catalogues that arrived daily pictured seven outrageous faces portraying the Seven Cardinal Sins. This idea dates back to the Celts who, in the Middle Ages, enjoyed morality plays featuring these characters. Those sins are Anger, Gluttony, Pride, Sloth, Envy, Greed and Lust. Would these seven pass muster to hang in a court house? Probably not, if the words "Cardinal Sins" appeared. The very word "sin" is too theological.

It is that kind of nit-picking which makes my brain whirl. On a Hallmark card I found a verse that calms me down when things get too wild. "In a world that moves too quickly, we must remember to stop for a moment and refresh our spirits."

My spirit was really refreshed when I read a story in the January 1-3 issue the Chronicle which appeared last Friday. It told the story of a retired Nashville couple who are dedicated to young people learning the Ten Commandments. They too were concerned about the abuse those rules have suffered and they felt there was a link to the loss of our nation's moral conscience.

They acted, and over the past five years about 7,000 youngsters across the nation have been introduced to the Ten Commandments. Each child who memorizes and then recites the Ten Commandments to an authorized adult witness who then signs an affidavit verifying the child is qualified, receives a $10 check. Mr. and Mrs. George Kelley are proving what a difference a positive action can make.

During this past holiday season churches welcomed the familiar faces as well as many seldom seen. Garrison Keillor, in his weekly radio monologue, told of the Christmas Eve church service in Lake Woebegone. He said the worshipers filled the back pews and then added, "In fact, you had to come very late to get a pew in the front."

That brought to mind a study that was done last year by a sociology class at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. For three semesters, the students surveyed 35 Southern Baptist, United Methodist and Episcopal churches in the city. They marked the arrival time and the seating preference of 3,426 churchgoers.

One result was that those attending had preferred seating locations. They were able to show in their findings that 23 percent go to the front section and 23 percent slip into back seats leaving the remaining 54 percent in the center. They also found that those sitting in the back pews searched for a seat on the end. Perhaps to make a quick exit when the service ended?

The survey also showed that churchgoers were regular about the time they arrived. 15 percent arrived very early, 20 minutes or more before; 25 percent showed up 10-19 minutes early; and 60 percent got there just in time.

Maybe some of those students learned about the Ten Commandments while they were doing their survey.

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Dorothy Copus Brush is a Fairfield Glade resident and Crossville Chronicle staffwriter whose column is published each Wednesday.