I’ve been doing some pondering lately as to why crime is up so much. I think that it is due to a number of reasons such as income disparity, peer presure, mental illness, lack of moral judgement, and a number of other things. But maybe it is due to people not learning what is right and what is wrong. So I thought, why not give a modern interpretation of the Ten Commandments and see if they make more sense. Also, maybe if people knew the consequences of their actions (such as jail time, the death penalty, fines, etc), maybe they would think twice about doing something wrong.
So I will attempt to do three things within this article: state the text of the traditional commandments, give my modern interpretation of said commandment, then state the Virginia state code that lists the punishment for that offence. The traditional commandment will be in bold text, my modern interpretation will be in italics and the corresponding Virginia state code will be in plain text. Again, the modern interpretation is my own. I’ve turned the comments on for this one so please keep it clean. Here we go…
This Article explains the different classes of misdemeanors and felonies in the Commonwealth of Virginia and their punishments.
- You shall have no other gods before me.
In the past, people used to worship the sun, the wind, golden calves, some dude named Baal and a myrad of others. This commandment was deigned to discourage that and tell people to only worship the person upstairs. Nowadays, this could apply to worshiping money, status and certain human individuals.
I couldn’t find a Virginia law that said that you have to worship God. Quite the opposite, the
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
states that “…No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry…”
2. You shall not make idols.
This one is similar to number 1 in the past when it came to worshiping inanimate objects. To me, the modern practice of worshipping statues is contrary to this commandment. Nowadays, I assume that this commandment pertains more to idolizing money, people and technology.
I could not find a Virginia law expressly prohibiting the making of idols. The closest that I could find was
§ 18.2-386.1. Unlawful creation of image of another
which has to to with taking images of people in various stages of undress without their consent. It is a misdemeaner if an adult is the victim and a felony if a child is the victim.
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
No cussing, pure and simple.
According to
This Article
It is legal to cuss in Virginia as of 07/01/2020.
4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
This is one of those commandments that is pretty much ignored nowadays. In the old testament, it talked about how God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh. The Sabbath possibly came about from this teaching. Later, certain religions designated a day to keep holy. It was usually Friday, Saturday or Sunday. I remember when the Commonwealth of Virginia repealed the Blue Laws, which prohibited all but essential businesses from opening on Sunday. The way that it was worded, if you thought that you were voting against it, you ended up voting for it. Since I was in retail at the time I ended up working many Sundays. That was one of the reasons that I got out of retail.
According to
This Article
Virginia Blue Laws were finally repealed in 1988
5. Honor your father and your mother.
This commandment is common sense. You need to respect your parents when growing up and help them out when they get old.
§ 20-88. Support of parents by children.
It shall be the joint and several duty of all persons eighteen years of age or over, of sufficient earning capacity or income, after reasonably providing for his or her own immediate family, to assist in providing for the support and maintenance of his or her mother or father, he or she being then and there in necessitous circumstances.
6. You shall not murder.
This one is a no brainer. If you kill someone, you will be severely punished. Depending on the circumstances one could get the death penalty or some prison sentance.
Upon looking at the various Virginia laws regarding murder it looks like one can face lengthy prison sentances and fines. According to
Virginia abolished the death penalty in 2021
7. You shall not commit adultery.
This is a tough one to talk about. It is my opinion that this is still as much an issue today as it was when the commandments were issued. We could debate human shortcomings, the power of lust and more but adultery is wrong.
§ 18.2-365. Adultery defined; penalty. Any person, being married, who voluntarily shall have sexual intercourse with any person not his or her spouse shall be guilty of adultery, punishable as a Class 4 misdemeanor. Code 1950, §§18.1-187, 18.1-190; 1960, c. 358; 1975, cc. 14, 15. Adultery defined; penalty. Any person, being married, who voluntarily shall have sexual intercourse with any person not his or her spouse shall be guilty of adultery, punishable as a Class 4 misdemeanor. Adultery is not only a ground for divorce in Virginia, but it is also a Class 4 misdemeanor under Virginia Code § 18.2-365.
8. You shall not steal.
This one is self evident.
§ 18.2-96. Commits simple larceny not from the person of another of goods and chattels of the value of less than $1,000, except as provided in clause (iii) of § 18.2-95, shall be deemed guilty of petit larceny, which shall be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.
§ 18.2-95. Grand larceny defined; how punished. Any person who (i) commits larceny from the person of another of money or other thing of value of $5 or more, (ii) commits simple larceny not from the person of another of goods and chattels of the value of $1,000 or more, or (iii) commits simple larceny not from the person of another of any firearm, regardless of the firearm’s value, shall be guilty of grand larceny, punishable by imprisonment in a state correctional facility for not less than one nor more than 20 years or, in the discretion of the jury or court trying the case without a jury, be confined in jail for a period not exceeding 12 months or fined not more than $2,500, either or both.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
According to the Washington Post, a certain former president violated this one over 30,000 times while in office. It looks like the Commonwealth of Virginia only covers lying under oath in a courtroom or after taking an oath.
§ 18.2-436. Inducing another to give false testimony; sufficiency of evidence. If any person procure or induce another to commit perjury or to give false testimony under oath in violation of any provision of this article, he shall be punished as prescribed in § 18.2-434, which states that If any person to whom an oath is lawfully administered on any occasion willfully swears falsely on such occasion touching any material matter or thing, or if a person falsely make oath that any other person is 18 years of age or older in order to obtain a marriage license for such other person, or if any person in any written declaration, certificate, verification, or statement under penalty of perjury pursuant to § 8.01-4.3 willfully subscribes as true any material matter which he does not believe is true, he is guilty of perjury, punishable as a Class 5 felony. Upon the conviction of any person for perjury, such person thereby shall be adjudged forever incapable of holding any office of honor, profit or trust under the Constitution of Virginia, or of serving as a juror.
10. You shall not covet.
You shouldn’t be envious and want your neighbor’s money, house, car, good looks, spouse, etc. I don’t believe that the Virginia Code covers this unless you actually steal something from your neighbor and try to sell it.
§ 18.2-108. Receiving, etc., stolen goods. If any person buys or receives from another person, or aids in concealing, any stolen goods or other thing, knowing the same to have been stolen, he shall be deemed guilty of larceny thereof.
In conclusion, it looks like numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 have no modern law to support them. 5, 6, 7 and 8 do have modern laws to support them and 9 and 10 have indirect modern laws to support them. So how do we teach these rules to those that the majority of do not go to church or have any religious affiliation? I don’t know. Maybe we should make the punishments for 5, 6, 7 and 8 tougher? Maybe a billboard with the 10 rules displayed in a modern context? What do you think? State your opinion below.
The 10 commandments were obtained from the
Michigan Conference of the United Methodist Church.
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