Thou Shalt Not Dominate Just Because You Can

Why Texas Is Wrong To Tell Everybody Else They're Right.

I love Texas.

Brisket. Willie Nelson. The Hill Country. I was in Caedmon’s Call, for goodness sake. I’ve never lived in the Lone Star State, but I’ve spent a ton of time there, and as Lyle Lovett sings, “that’s right, you’re not from Texas, but Texas wants you anyway.”

I have so many friends in Texas and have always felt welcomed there. That’s why this news article I read the other day made me so sad.

Texas lawmakers approve bill requiring Ten Commandments in every classroom
Republican officials across the country are pushing legislation to integrate religion in public education.

My heart immediately sank.

Life is hard enough for kids (and their teachers) without getting dragged into this.

I’ve sat with my reaction for a while now. Here’s where I’ve landed.

Because of my deep belief in the Christian story I hope and pray this bill, along with others like it, ultimately fails.

Here’s why:

1. It’s Against the Law

The First Amendment states:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

Feels a bit ironic to break an important rule just so you can hang up a list of important rules.

I think Alanis Morissette has a song for that one.

2. The Golden Rule

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

— Matthew 7:12

For the Muslim, Hindu, Atheist, Agnostic, etc., students and teachers in those classrooms, seeing a Jewish/Christian religious document on the wall, imposed by the government, is something they would not want.

If a Muslim or Hindu-led administration were to do the same with one of their religious texts, how would Christian families feel about this?

They would feel put out and discriminated against, as if their beliefs are being put in subjection to another’s.

This is not how you would have others treat you, so you shouldn’t do it to them. It ought to be that simple.

(Also, I’m aware it’s a Jewish religious text too—but let’s be honest. I’m pretty sure Jewish kids get that they’re just as unwelcome by this move as kids of other faiths.)

3. We don’t know who’s teaching

While this story does not involve this particular angle, it hints at something you tend to see in similar stories: talk of requiring Bible classes in public schools.

As someone who has spent many years unlearning poor Biblical teaching—from people who loved Jesus but held beliefs I would not want passed down to my children—I really wouldn’t want people who aren’t Christians, or even Christians of random theological backgrounds, teaching my children about our family’s faith.

It’s as if the people pushing these ideas are so focused on winning the fight, they haven’t thought for a minute about what would happen if they actually did.

get it?

4. Why the Ten Commandments?

This, though, is the real question.

If you really feel like you have to break the law, then go against the Bible in order to teach the Bible, and to make people who don’t believe the Bible teach the Bible, why pick the Ten Commandments as the thing you hang up?

There are other famous passages that would fit on a poster, too. The Lord’s Prayer, perhaps? The Beatitudes?

Why the King James Version of a list of rules that, to put it bluntly, most of these legislators have publicly had little interest in even trying to follow themselves?

I’ll give you a hint.

One word:
Control.

Another?
Power.

One more?
Domination.

These people aren’t trying to convert anybody. They’re not spreading the good news of Jesus. They’re trying to show how powerful they are. That they’re in charge, they can break the rules, and that their way of life gets to be more important than anybody else’s.

They want other people to feel discriminated against and belittled. That’s the whole point.

And so the Ten Commandments is perfect. Because it’s a list of rules. Ten things Thou Shalt do and Thou Shalt Not do.

Unless you have a theologian in the room, you won’t understand that it’s a document that’s part of a greater story — one of immense beauty and grace.

But of course they didn’t put the Lord’s Prayer up there, with its dangerous words about forgiveness and asking only for what we need today. Those words could start a revolution. They often have!

And what about the Beatitudes? Blessed are the poor, the mourning, the humble, those who hunger for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted…

Could you imagine? The hope you would give people? The dignity?

But they chose the Ten Commandments—a passage full of rules—and not those other words of prayer or mercy, given to us by Jesus because we couldn’t live up to those rules on our own.

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Why am I writing this, and not some post about delay pedals?

Let me tell it to you straight:

I am tired of seeing the church I love and the Jesus I follow being used as a political pawn to manipulate and control others.

It is happening more and more these days. By sprinkling the name of Jesus over something insidious, corrupt leaders are fooling others into thinking good is bad and bad is good. Not only are they doing evil—they are pushing people away from the church and damaging the reputation of the Christians around the world doing great things.

I’m tired of seeing Christians get fooled by these people, too.

It has been breaking my heart for years.

You want to know if powerful people are telling the truth when they hold up the Bible they’re selling (for $59.99, made in China)?

Look at how they treat the poor, the orphans, the refugees, the immigrants, the least of these… What do you see?

Do you see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?

Draw your own conclusions, but please be honest. Put yourself in the shoes of an immigrant, a refugee, or someone living in poverty. The people Jesus continually spent much of his time with (as he was sometimes those things himself).

Apply Matthew 7:12: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

How do you feel about the posters on the wall? About the roundup and deportation of immigrants with no criminal record that’s happening here in my neighborhood as parents are being stopped on their way to drop their kids off at school?

Would I have them do this unto me? Would you have them do this unto you?

How would you feel when they hang that poster on the school wall after they deport your father while he’s legally awaiting asylum? Or they’ve revoked your family’s refugee status and aid, with no reason or explanation, after living here legally for years?

I’ll admit, the temptation is always there, when I first wake up, to look first at the headlines to see what other crazy thing has happened while I was asleep. Sadly, there’s usually something there for me.

This is why it is so important that I go before anything else to the word of God. There we remember that we are not the first people who bristle under a corrupt government. Not the first to cry out:

“How long, O Lord, how long??”

I also read this the other day—one of many passages in the Psalms that speak to the powerlessness we can feel, at times:

See, the wicked one is pregnant with evil,
conceives trouble, and gives birth to deceit.
He dug a pit and hollowed it out
but fell into the hole he had made.
His trouble comes back on his own head;
his own violence comes down on top of his head.
	— Psalm 7:14–16 (CSB)

Texas might hang up the Ten Commandments, reminding us that we all fall short of the glory of God. And friends, we all do. You, me, every teacher, every student, every Democrat, every Republican, and everybody else that’s left.

But thank God, that’s not the only poster Jesus would have us hang on the wall.

“Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill,” Jesus said.

And how does He fulfill that? Not by manipulating or dominating, though he’s the most powerful being in the universe — but by humbling himself, taking the nature of a servant, and offering more than a list of Thou Shalts and Shalt Nots.

He gave us these words I’ve had hanging on my wall for the last 22 years. Words that have shaped my life in the most profound way.

My wife Alison painted this for me when we were first married. Matthew 5:3-10. “The Beatitudes.” This was the passage our wedding sermon was based on.

I will continue to pray that this Texas bill fails. And I will continue to pray for our nation’s leaders, as I try to do regularly — that they would turn from corruption and bitterness, and instead might taste and see the sweetness of repentance and surrender.

So that maybe they could hang these words on their walls, too:

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the humble,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
	— Matthew 5:3–10 (CSB)

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Thanks for reading.

Also, I released a few more new songs this week. I’ll tell you more about them soon.

Swing Wide The Glimmering Gates and I’m On Your Side from my upcoming acoustic retrospective album. Hope you enjoy!