Sean K stole my joke.

This does not diminish my love for Allyson.

I hear she's writing a book. It's not published yet, but it's MADE OF AWESOME.

It was kind of a foolish scene, because I don't know anybody with any religious education who can't recite the beginning at least of most of the famous phrases;

I was chatting with a friend who argued that you can look at the commandments as just good practical advice. You'll probably be happier if you aren't coveting, and so on. I said, well except for the first one. He looked at me blankly for a while, and finally had to ask what the first commandment was.

He was a minister's son. So it happens.

Sadly, this passage doesn't stop the ignorant from statements like "Kill 'em all and let god sort them out." Sometimes, being able to quote scripture is a real pain, because it makes clear how little some "believers" actually know and have thought through their foundational documents.

I'm reading Misquoting Jesus and the book is fascinating and informative and wonderful.

Allyson's caustic sense of humor is as deadly as ita's pinky.

He looked at me blankly for a while, and finally had to ask what the first commandment was.

Uuuuuggggghh. So you're saying that little bit of my memory (quite unnecessary to me personally) is why I can't ever remember where I left my keys?? I don't just know one version of that line; I know three!

Matt , wishing quick improvement to your dad.

Allyson is pretty and smart.

Gloomcookie, check with your vet

Well, no one says you have to know the commandments in order; I don't even know all the Bill of Rights.

no one says you have to know the commandments in order

I do. Otherwise "fifth commandment" is meaningless shorthand. And lord knows, people do use that shorthand.

I don't even know all the Bill of Rights.

We have the right to P-A-R-T-Y!!! (I know that because we had to fight, for our right, to P-A-R-T-Y!!!)

I don't even know all the Bill of Rights.

I only know the Preamble, thanks to School House Rock. If they'd have done one on the Bill of Rights, I'd be able to sing it.

Yes, Judaism has a rich and evolving history of struggling with these issues and, of course, it recognizes that these stories apply to a particular time and a particular people. The same can not be said for fundamentalist Christians.

I talked about Christians in the first paragraph. I really don't think the literalist who are loudest in our current culture are the majority of christians now or ever.

You never see Tele-Rabbis condemning Lutheran kids in North Dakota for eating cheeseburgers. Cheeseburgers have to do with their way of worshiping God.

No, you don't, because Judaism doesn't seek converts. But within Jewish communities there is certainly that sort of pressure to follow the rules.