Sometimes in today's world, I wonder how self-avowed Christians can act the way they do, say the things they say, and support the people they support. There seems to be some major cognitive dissonance between the things we learned in church and how we act in the real world. The mental gymnastics that would now be required to continue to understood my childhood learnings and interpretations exceed my abilities.

To that end, here is an analisys of what I was taught about the Ten Commandments as a kid and how I understand them now. Also, because several states are looking at putting The Commandments in schools, it might be worthwhile to revisit them.

I will use the NIV for reference – not because I think that version is best but because that is the bible I used as a kid. Also, this is the Lutheran interpretation as that is how I was raised.

1) You shall have no other gods nor create any idols

Childhood Interpretation

The first questioen I had as a child was how does this apply to the cross, Jesus imagery, depictions of God, and other religious figures. I was told that this commandment only applied to things not in our religion. Anything we created for the worship of God was ok. No other Gods, simply mean that our God was the only God, no question's asked.

Adult Interpretation

The bible makes it pretty clear "...in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below." So I read this as NO idols to worship at. Presumably, the intent (if we can presume to know God's intent) was to prevent the earthyl item from being the object of adoration rather than God themself.

This commandmant has been used historically to destroy cultural items of other religions all the while keeping our own idols safely in place.

There is also a stern warning here about other Gods. But what is an other God? Is Allah a different God? Is Yahweh? Could the tenents of Budhism be seen as an extrpolation of a God? Are they the same God interpreted differently? I think now I understand that the same God can be a different thing to different people. God is omnipotent, so it would stand to reason that They can be many things, one thing, or no things all at the same time.

What about earthly idols whose rhetoric is followed more closely than the teachings of the bible? Are they "gods" in this context?

My understanding of the first commadment now is that anything that pulls us away from the true teachings of God are to be considered "other gods" or idols.

2) You shall not take the Lord's name in vain

Childhood Interpretation

This one was simple as a kid. Don't say "god" unless you are really talking about God. Don't say "goddamn", don't use "god" as an exclamation, don't say "oh my god!" (but OMG is ok because we didn't spell it out).

Adult Interpretation

The word in the Bible is "misuse" rather than "take in vain". I now understand that true misuse of the Lord's name is perpetrating harm on others in the name of God. The Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, Manifest Destiny, use of the Protestant work ethic to brow-beat the less fortunate for being lazy, etc. These are all true examples of misusing the Lord's name.

Being a Christian in name only is another form of violation of this Commandment. Claiming affinity to the Lord but not acting in line with their directions is absolutely a misuse of the Lord's name.

3) Remember the sabbath and keep it holy

Childhood Interpretation

Go to church on Sundays and don't do work, but it is totally OK to go out to eat after church and make the wait staff work because...I guess Krispy Creme's donuts are made by a machine, so the mental math works out.

Adult Interpretation

Church is a state of mind. I feel closer to God at the top of a mountain than I ever have in church so as long as you are giving God time and reflecting on your part in their work, I think you check easily check this box.

Where this gets interesting is in the actual verse where not only should we not work on the Sabbath, neither should our servants, animals, nor the "alien wihting your gates". But odd that any time we try to implement worker protections for time off, our "Christian" leaders (see #2 above) seem to shoot this sort of proposal down, despite the clear alignment with the commandments.

The Commandment is tied to the rest that God took on the 7th day of creation, presumably because of the amount of work that they had done to create everything. So wouldn't it stand to reason that rest should be afforded to anyone who has worked hard like in child birth, during an illness, after a hard year on the job, etc.?

I am not sure this commandment just wanted us to go to church. I think this was the bible teaching us about mental health days.

4) Honor thy father and mother

Childhood Interpretation

Respect and honor your father and mother, don't talk back, they are the ultimate authority.

Adult Interpretation

The word used is "honor" but etymologically this means prize highly, care for, show respect for, and obey. So this goes far beyond listening to your parents to actually caring for them and valuing their place in your life.

I also did not understand as a child (nor should I have) the intricacies of abusive parental relationships. How does this commandment play in those situations? The Bible prescribes no such commandment for parents to do right by their children. As a book inspired by God and written by humans, it may follow that this was some self serving bias here that children should remain part of the home and be part of the agrarian labor force. Specifically, the commandment mentions doing this (obeying parents) so "...that you may live long in the land..."

So what does this mean in 2025? It means our parents should be a source of wisdom, strength, and support. In return, we should honor our parents. But if a parent breaks or is breaking their side of the bargain, this commanment cannot and should not be used to force children into harmful and abusive situations.

This commandment is also often used to validte the ultimate authority of "elders". Again, the same considerations apply. No child should be forced to Honor the abusive relative, the drunkard, or the anyone who does not have a child's (adult of juvenille) best interest in mind.

5) Thou shall not kill

Childhood Interpretation

I recall asking the question about war and how it plays into this commandment at a young age as I was already on the path to wanting to be a military member when I grew up. The answer: killing in wars against our enemies is justified. By extension, any justified killing is...well justified.

As a kid, I am not sure I had the logical faculties to understand what was being said here and was most ok with this explanation.

Adult Interpretation

I don't recall God or Jesus ever telling us to make enemies or start wars or kill people. I kind of recall the opposite. Sure there is a lot of war-related verbiage and textual imagery about going to war for God, but I am pretty sure that was all intended to be alegorical. I cannot reconcile (now) a God who would excuse certain types of killing.

Maybe self defense applies, I don't know. How does that jive with turning the other cheek?

The bible uses the word "murder" but indicates this to mean premedidated and deliverate. "War is not murder" is what I was told. But war seems pretty damn premeditidated and deliberate to me. Not to mention the long list of attrocities commited by waring nations that certainly do not confirm to the necesity aspect of war.

I cannot find a pretzel knot of logical conclusions that supports any type of killing other than in self defence (and even that might be dubious) that fits into this commandment. If you carry a gun to defend yourself, is that premedidated and deliberate? Would less-than-lethal defense mechanism be a better option for the general public?

And don't even get me started on killing in the name of God. That shit is just right out. No God of mine would command someone to do such a thing.

6) Thou shall not commit adultery

Childhood Interpretation

Don't cheat on your wife or partner, don't be impure, don't have sex out of wedlock. As a kid, this was just the way things were, I didn't have enough understanding of the world to question this at all.

Adult Intepretation

This commandment is often used to drive "purity culture" on kids. But the root of the word really does not simply refer to sexual acts between non-married couples, it also means to corupt or make impure. The note in my Bible specifical states "a sin against God as wel as against the marriage partner."

You could make an argument that this is an extension of the 2nd Commandment and that the adulteration of our religion to something used to harm people is the real nature of this commandment by using the Lord's name in vain.

Marriage, additionally, has become a legal construct. Partnered couples can love each other as much or as little as any married couple. Does the act of marriage really change something about the relationship? Some interpret this commandment as a restriction against divorce as well, often damning abused partners to even more abuse.

Should people cheat on their partner(s)? Absolutely not, but I don't think that is all that is at play here with this commandment.

7) Thou shall not steal

Childhood Interpretation

Pretty straightforward here, don't take things that aren't yours. Really focused on objects.

Adult Interpretation

Oh man, talk to me about colonialism in the name of God. The childhood interpretation envisioned toys, food, cars, etc. As an adult, the definition expands to time, money, agency, freedom, liberty, and more.

Do corporations "stealing" clean air and water count against this commandment? What about commercial real estate interests that rob the populace of viable housing options? What about corporate welfare where we still from people to support the rich?

Theft is such a tricky term. Is it stealing if the act is commited out of a sense of survival? Was the real theft that of a person's safety and security?

We will talk about coveting things in a couple lines and in the case of theft due to coveting, sure I think you are in the wrong. But theft out of necesity, I am not sure the real theft is that of the item.

8) Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor

Childhood Interpretation

Don't lie.

Adult Iterpretation

Don't lie.

While this happens all the time and our rigged court system that punishes the poor and marginalized more than the rich and white, I do not see a widespread misinterpretation of this commandment. Of course with the advent of fake news, peoples' truthfullness is currently in full question.

9/10) Thou shall not covet thy neighbors house or wife or things

Childhood Interpretation

Why are these two separate commandments? Because.

It was to make a nice round 10 number.

Adult Interpretation

Comparison is the thief of joy, so it had been said. And I mostly agree. Coveting people, items, animals, status, money, or anything is a road to dismay and woe.

But what if the thing being covetted is freedom, security, survival? It was often said about the enslaved people of America that they should be happy because they were cared for and their desire for freedom was "covetous." Did this make their envy wrong?

This commandment could be used to downplay any desire for a better situation, which seems ludricous. Should the black communited not have coveted civil rights? Should women not have coveted the right to vote? Should the poor not covet stability and security?

We should not covet our neighbors things and material items. But as a society we absolutely should covet freedom for the oppressed, we should covet security for the tormented, and we should covet anything that helps another person.

Conclusion

As you can see, my interpretations have changed a bit since I was a child. As 1 Corinthians 13:11 says:

¹¹ When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

God will judge me for my views someday, and I believe in a God who values obedience to Jesus's teachings to help one another and hope I am judged as such.