Ten Commandments
Is US law based on the Ten Commandments? Fundies would like us to believe so, but--as usual--the facts are not on their side. Marc Berard's excellent article at Skeptic Report (h/t: Bay of Fundie) analyzes them one-by-one, and concludes:
Out of the 10 commandments, 4 (1, 2, 3, 10) are counter to American laws. 3 (6, 8, 9) are part of our legal system, but are part of just about every legal system in history. 2 (4, 5) are not a part of our laws. And 1 (7) may or may not be a part of state or local laws. Even in a state that has laws concerning #7, that still means less than half of the 10 commandments carry any legal weight, and an equal number are illegal to enforce.Those that claim the 10 commandments are our basis for law apparently do not know the law very well. The only thing funnier is those that want it posted illegally in schools "to teach children respect for the law".
(The voice in my head is reading Berard's words in George Carlin's voice...I like that a lot.)