Should Everyone Be Allowed to Display the 10 Commandments Anywhere They Like?

Zainab Khan

Reaction Paper

April 4, 2017

The Ten Commandments

Yes, every individual should have the right to post the Ten Commandments anywhere they like without any restrictions or prohibition. In the recent decades, our society and the present generation has failed and continues to fail to distinguish right from wrong. Our society lacks morality. Religion plays a vital role in our everyday life and provides the moral guidance that we need to live in our society successfully, limiting the amount of turmoil created otherwise.

The United States constitution gives everyone the right to freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of religion among many other various human rights. When it comes to posting The Ten Commandments in one’s office or a public place, there’s a great controversy that takes arise in the society. Some believe that the display of the Ten Commandments in public violates the rights of atheists and people of other religions. I personally do not see anything in the commandments that might be offensive to one’s views or religious believes. They are a set of rules against murder, stealing, cheating, adultery and profanity.  They are a code of conduct for social norms and rules and responsibilities of individuals in a society. They are intended to advocate moral behavior, promote ethics and respect for the parents and the neighbors. Displaying them in public or one’s public place promotes moral values; they traditionally have represented a moral floor for acceptable behavior in the old-age.

Now, with their absence from our daily lives, we see the lack of ethics, shortage of respect for parents, higher rate of killing, stealing, adultery, lack of order on the rise. The Ten Commandments serve are a reminder for righteous behavior. In addition, they will sever as an impediment when it comes to robbery, murdering, and adultery. Moreover, their display in public places or one’s private place will spread awareness of what is considered morally right and what’s considered to be wrong. For instance, adultery and premarital sex is immensely prevalent in our society, nowadays. It’s mostly due to the failure of instilling the necessary religious values in our children.  Many are oblivious of the fact that adultery and premarital sex are strictly prohibited in all three Abrahamic religions and as a result they fall for the forbidden fruit so effortlessly. Therefore, everyone should be allowed to display the set of the Ten Commandments as long as one does not intend to harm one’s feelings or impose their religious views on others.