White House wants Commandments

The AP is reporting that the White House backs the Ten Commandments displays on Government Property.

The Bush administration on Wednesday urged the Supreme Court to allow Ten Commandments displays on government property, adding a federal view on a major church-state case that justices will deal with early next year.

The government has weighed in before in religion cases at the high court, including one earlier this year that challenged the words "under God" in the classroom recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

The government supported a California school district in that case. Now, it is backing two Kentucky counties that had framed copies of the Ten Commandments in their courthouses....The Supreme Court banned the posting of Ten Commandments in public schools in 1980.

I am a very religous person and I abide by not just the 10 Commandments but 613 positive and negative mitzvot. Also, it is interesting to note this article on the Ten Commandments controversy. I have copied it here in full:

In the United States, a controversy has persisted for many years regarding the placement of the "Ten Commandments" in public schools and public buildings. But one critical question seems to have escaped most of the public dialog on the subject: Whose "Ten Commandments" should we post?

The general perception in this country is that the "Ten Commandments" are part of the common religious heritage of Judaism, Catholicism and Protestantism, part of the sacred scriptures that we all share, and should not be controversial. But most people involved in the debate seem to have missed the fact that these three religions divide up the commandments in different ways! Judaism, unlike Catholicism and Protestantism, considers "I am the L-rd, your G-d" to be the first "commandment." Catholicism, unlike Judaism and Protestantism, considers coveting property to be separate from coveting a spouse. Protestantism, unlike Judaism and Catholicism, considers the prohibition against idolatry to be separate from the prohibition against worshipping other gods. No two religions agree on a single list. So whose list should we post?

And once we decide on a list, what translation should we post? Should Judaism's sixth declaration be rendered as "Thou shalt not kill" as in the popular KJV translation, or as "Thou shalt not murder," which is a bit closer to the connotations of the original Hebrew though still not entirely accurate?

These may seem like trivial differences to some, but they are serious issues to those of us who take these words seriously. When a government agency chooses one version over another, it implicitly chooses one religion over another, something that the First Amendment prohibits. This is the heart of the controversy.

But there is an additional issue in this controversy that is of concern from a Jewish perspective. In Talmudic times, the rabbis consciously made a decision to exclude daily recitation of the Aseret ha-Dibrot from the liturgy because excessive emphasis on these statements might lead people to mistakenly believe that these were the only mitzvot or the most important mitzvot, and neglect the other 603. By posting these words prominently and referring to them as "The Ten Commandments," (as if there weren't any others, which is what many people think) schools and public buildings may be teaching a message that Judaism specifically and consciously rejected.

This is truly where the controversy lies. I only know one version, and that is the Jewish one. Here is the Jewish version:

1. "I am Hashem, your G-d, Who has taken you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. You shall not recognize the gods of others in My presence." (Shemot 20,2)
2. "You shall not make a carved image nor any likeness of that which is in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the water beneath the earth. You shall not prostrate yourself before them nor worship them, for I am Hashem your G-d - a jealous G-d, Who visits the sin of fathers on children to the third and fourth generations, for My enemies; but Who shows kindness for thousands [of generations] to those who love Me and observe My commandments." (Shemot 20:4-6)
3. "You shall not take the name of Hashem, your G-d, in vain, for Hashem will not absolve anyone who takes His Name in vain." (Shemot 20:7)
4. "Remember the Day of Shabbat to sanctify it. Six days shall you work and accomplish all your work; but the seventh day is Shabbat to Hashem, your G-d; you shall not do any work - you, your son, your daughter, your slave, your maidservant, your animal, and your convert within your gates - for in six days Hashem made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day. Therefore, Hashem blessed the Day of Shabbat and sanctified it." (Shemot 20:8-11)
5. "Honor your father and your mother, so that your days will be lengthened upon the land that Hashem, your G-d, gives you." (Shemot 20:12)
6. "You shall not murder!" (Shemot 20:13)
7. "You shall not commit adultery!" (Shemot 20:13)
8. "You shall not steal!" (Shemot 20:13)
9. "You shall not bear false witness against your fellow!" (Shemot 20:13)
10. "You shall not covet your fellow's house. You shall not covet your fellow's wife, his manservant, his maidservant, his ox, his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your fellow!" (Shemot 20:14)

For commentary, please check out this page by the the Orthodox Union.