Why the Ten Commandments Are

THE FOUNDATION OF FREEDOM

A Look at History by

Gary Ray Branscome

          Those who are actively working to separate all Christian influence from government are undermining the very basis of free government and laying the foundation for tyranny. If you fail to see what I mean, ask yourself: What are rulers who tyrannize and enslave other than immoral rulers. And, what are rulers who take bribes, live above the law, punish the innocent, falsely accuse, rape, kill, or rob their citizens other than rulers who have only contempt for the Ten Commandments.

          History is full of examples that tell us what happens when rulers ignore the two commandments, “Thou shall not commit murder” and ”Thou shall not commit adultery”. Consider for instance the “Rape of Nanking” (in China). Because the Japanese suffered many casualties in taking that city they poured out their anger on its citizens.

“The Japanese began their killing spree with the execution of ninety thousand captured Chinese soldiers… These men were stabbed to death, hung by their tongues, attacked by dogs, set ablaze, machine-gunned, buried alive, and beheaded. Next civilians were shot at random… Those barbarous acts were a mere prelude to what became of the women of Nanking, an estimated eighty thousand of whom were systematically raped.… In all the Japanese defiled and murdered half of Nanking’s six hundred thousand citizens.” [From the book, “Killing the Rising Sun” by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, pages 47 and 48.]

If you think that such behavior was an aberration not sanctioned by government, think again, for that was not the case at all. Consider the following quotes from pages 234 and 235 of the same book.

“Officers and enlisted men alike quickly learn that the Japanese do not honor the Geneva Conventions. POW’s are slaves; they work in coal mines, factories, and shipyards and on tropical plantations.”

“Soon the rest of the world will discover that the Japanese leadership not only brutalizes captured soldiers but has also sanctioned the use of women in conquered territories as prostitutes for the gratification of Japanese troops. These innocent civilians are forced into sexual slavery… Women from Taiwan, the Philippines, Korea, Indonesia, Burma, and Holland have been taken captive and repeatedly raped by Japanese soldiers.”

          The Japanese were not brutal because they were barbarians. On the contrary, they have a very ancient culture and are quite modern. They were brutal because they lacked Christian influence, and knew nothing of the Ten Commandments. However, when it comes to the brutality and the criminal behavior of those in power; history gives us example after example not only of government sanctioned rape and murder but of government sanctioned theft, false accusation, wrongful imprisonment, and persecution. In fact, with rare exceptions, rulers have throughout history been guilty of criminal behavior. Consider, for example, Saul’s attempt to murder David, David’s murder of Uriah, Athaliah’s murder of all heirs to the throne (2Kings 11:1), or Ahab and Jezebel’s false accusation and murder of Naboth (1Kings 21:8-16).

          Most people are aware of the brutality of the NAZI party in Germany, and its social Darwinist attempt to exterminate Jews or breed a superior race. However, such brutality was never limited to Germany. During the nineteen twenties and thirties some sixty-thousand people were forcibly sterilized in this country in the name of eugenics, and, to date, over sixty million babies have been murdered in government sanctioned abortion clinics. So as I point out the sins of other nations don’t think that it couldn’t happen here.

“From the October Revolution onward, Lenin had used repression against perceived enemies of the Bolsheviks as a systematic method of instilling fear and facilitating social control, especially during the campaign commonly referred to as the Red Terror. This policy continued and intensified under Stalin, periods of heightened repression including the deportation of kulaks who opposed collectivization, and a severe famine in the Ukraine.

“Hundreds of thousands of victims were accused of various political crimes (espionage, wrecking, sabotage, anti-Soviet agitation, conspiracies to prepare uprisings and coups); they were quickly executed by shooting, or sent to the Gulag labor camps. Many died at the penal labor camps of starvation, disease, exposure, and overwork. Other methods of dispatching victims were used on an experimental basis. One secret policeman, for example, gassed people to death in batches in the back of a specially adapted airtight van.” [From Wikipedia, Stalin's "great purge".]

“An indication of the vast scope of the Great Purge was the discovery, during the Second World War, in Vinnytsia (Ukraine) of a mass grave containing 10,000 bodies of residents of the region who were shot between 1937 and 1938. Given the lack of complete data, it is difficult to establish the total loss of life brought about by the Stalinist terror. An average estimate is that in the Soviet Union as a whole, about 500,000 were executed in 1937-39 and somewhere between 3 and 12 million were sent to labor camps. [From http://russiapedia.rt.com/of-russian-origin/stalins-purges/]

“Idi Amin Dada, who became known as the 'Butcher of Uganda' for his brutal, despotic rule whilst president of Uganda in the 1970s, is possibly the most notorious of all Africa's post-independence dictators. Amin seized power in a military coup in 1971 and ruled over Uganda for 8 years. Estimates for the number of his opponents who were either killed, tortured, or imprisoned vary from 100,000 to half a million. [From www.thoughtco.com]

What I have said so far has to do only with the commandments forbidding murder, adultery, theft, false witness and covetousness. However, it is also just as important to freedom for rulers to respect the other commandments as well. Our freedom to worship God, respect His name, keep the Sabbath day holy, and train up our children according to the Word of God all have to do with the Ten Commandments. And, it is only when rulers respect those commandments that we are free to live “a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (1Tim. 2:2). The four pillars of dictatorship are 1- control of guns 2- control of religion 3- control of the press, and 4- control of education. And, throughout history rulers who had such control have used it to force those under their authority to worship false gods, force them to dishonor God’s name, punish them for worshipping God, and to turn Christian children against their parents and against the Christian faith.       

“Saudi Arabian officials recently arrested 27 Christians—among them several women and children—for the crime of “conducting Christian prayers” and being “in possession of Bibles”.

“Authorities, the dreaded “religious police,” proceeded to strip them of their visas and deport them back to Lebanon. Ironically, this is a much better fate than that suffered by other Christians caught engaging in “acts of Christianity” in the Islamic kingdom, including torture and long jail sentences. For example, back in 2012, 35 Christian Ethiopians were arrested and abused in prison for almost a year, simply for holding a private house prayer. One of them reported after being released: “They [Saudis] are full of hatred towards non-Muslims.” [From www.jihadwatch.org]

When God delivered His people from government orchestrated murder and persecution in Egypt He provided them with a free government. And, His Word tells us that He does not want us to place any unbeliever (Deut. 17:15), or anyone who does not respect His commandments (Deut. 17:18-20), in a position of power. Therefore, those who have allowed the phrase “separation of church and state” to be twisted to mean the opposite of what God’s Word clearly teaches are doing the devil’s work. When Luther called for separation of church and state he was speaking out against control of government by religious officials. He was speaking out against popes who lead armies and religious officials with the power to sentence anyone who disagreed with them to death. When early Baptists called for separation of church and state they were speaking out against rulers who controlled the church and hindered Christians in carrying out the great commission. However, today the phrase “separation of church and state” is being used to make atheism the de facto state religion.

          In the name of “separation of church and state” America’s schools have been turned into an atheist establishment of religion. All students who attend those schools are taught the atheist doctrines of the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and what happens at death. They are also taught the atheist view of abortion, sex outside of marriage, and homosexuality. For that reason, lukewarm Christians who passively allow their children to be taught such things are pleasing Satan, not God. What God wants us to keep separate is the role of those who lead the church and the role of those lead the state. Those are to be two different roles! However, that does not change the fact that God wants those who carryout those roles (in both the church and in the state) to keep His Commandments (Deuteronomy 17:15-20).

Conclusion

          If you are one of those who imagine that what I have just described is totally foreign to our American system you need to think again. The English system of common law originated with King Alfred, whose legal code included the Ten Commandments along with other excerpts of Mosaic Law (871-899 A.D.). The Jewish laws of commerce, as codified by Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon, later became the basis for much of English commercial law. The laws of England in turn, (especially as explained in Blackstone's "Commentaries On The Laws Of England") then became the basis for the American system of law. Furthermore, the men who founded our American government were intent on preserving that Biblical system of law. In contrast, those who are working to remove all Biblical influence from our government are working to subvert it.