Thou shalt not take the Lord’s name in vain

By Ellis Washington

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control … Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

~ 2 Timothy 3:1-2, 5

The third commandment, “Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord in vain,” addresses issues of respect and holiness. Respect for God and the things of God like prayer, worship and true religion. While many people narrowly interpret the third commandment as relating to using God’s name as a curse word or in blasphemous manner, it goes much deeper than that.

In this article I would like to discuss how the third commandment, “Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord in vain,” relates to America’s modern political culture. Exhibit One: President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, are virtual case studies of people who have a veneer of religiosity (spending 20 years in the church of hatemonger Rev. Jeremiah Wright), yet their lifestyles and especially their political philosophy and worldviews are diametrically opposed to Jefferson’s desire for all Americans to have the freedom to seek after Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Life – Obama’s pro-abortion stand was the most extremist view out of all 535 members of Congress. He concedes no restrictions, regulations, laws or linkage of federal dollars to limit abortions … nothing! Three times during his brief tenure as an Illinois state representative Obama voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act (2002), which would have provided medical assistance to babies who were lucky enough to survive an abortion.

Obama’s genocidal stance against these innocent pre-born and post-born babies is both unconscionable and hypocritical. I rank Obama’s uncompromising political stance against life to the most irredeemable slaveholders in the American South who sacrificed over 600,000 American citizens during the Civil War in their vain efforts to allow one man the right to own another as a slave and to kill that slave if he was disobedient. For Obama, Congress, pro-abortion groups and the courts to willfully and wantonly kill the most innocent members of humanity through abortion is our modern version of slavery. In my view policies that wantonly harm innocent life is taking the Lord’s name in vain.

A leading British commentator’s warning to America: “Welcome to Obamaland: I Have Seen Your Future and It Doesn’t Work”

Liberty – While Obama’s merciless disregard for life is well-chronicled, his perverse views regarding liberty is less well-known. Earlier in his presidential term, Obama made a big announcement that he was shutting down America’s prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The logical question became, where will you put these irredeemable Muslim terrorists? We got that answer a few weeks ago when Obama announced that he actually plans on releasing many of these prisoners back into society.

Allowing fanatical Muslim terrorists to live free among us will drastically reduce the liberty interests of all Americans. I predict that as outrageous as this policy is, Obama’s self-deification and infantile narcissism will push him ever further to denigrate our liberties and give these murderous terrorists housing arrangements, food stipends, jobs and college scholarships.

Obama’s perverse liberty policy allowing the genocide of innocent babies while setting international terrorists free is a galling example of taking the Lord’s name in vain.

The pursuit of Happiness – One of the elements of a sociopath is deriving pleasure from the suffering of others. Obama definitely has sociopathic tendencies, for in just over two months as president his draconian spending binges has raised the level of suffering of the American people to Third World levels (8.5 percent unemployment, $12.8 trillion debt) while at the same time maintaining high approval numbers that hovers around 60 percent. Obama seems to be oblivious to the historical fact that socialism or government control over the means, production and distribution of goods is antithetical to the pursuit of happiness.

Sir Winston Churchill 75 years ago foresaw the coming of a demigod like Obama when he stated, “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy. … The inherent vice of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” Government control over our churches, our schools, our medical system and over every aspect of the free-market capitalist system is classical socialism.

This diabolical philosophy will not allow people the power to pursue happiness, but will make us all equally miserable by pitting man against woman, blacks against whites, Jews against Gentiles, poor against rich, bums against producers, Democrats against Republicans, bureaucrats against businessmen, and on and on until all Americans are forced to live on the government plantation and take our daily bread from Masser Obama at the Big House (e.g., the White House).

Whatever happened to liberty, freedom and reliance on God for all our needs?

Following Obama and his Neo-Marxist socialism is a form of taking the Lord’s name in vain, because taking the hard-earned money from one American and putting it in the pocket of another American who didn’t earn it is legalized thievery. Socialism diminishes the God-given dignity of our fellow Americans, reducing them to the status of lazy bums receiving stolen goods. Neo-Marxism, socialism and the liberal welfare state is not a political philosophy that glorifies God.

President Obama, a man I believe isn’t even a legitimate “natural born” American citizen according to Article 2, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, may think that he is a demigod, a messiah; that he can trample over the rights of We the People without fear of consequences or retribution; that his policies can continuously take the Lord’s name in vain – however, I prefer to believe in the words of Churchill who said, “The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.”

Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord in vain.

Ellis Washington

Ellis Washington is a former staff editor of the Michigan Law Review and law clerk at the Rutherford Institute. He is a professor of Constitutional Law, Legal Ethics, and Contracts at the National Paralegal College, a counselor at the American College of Education, and a founding board member of Salt and Light Global. Washington is a co-host of "Joshua's Trial," a radio show of Christian conservative thought. A graduate of John Marshall Law School and post-grad work at Harvard Law School, his latest law review article is titled, "Social Darwinism in Nazi Family and Inheritance Law." Washington’s latest book is a 2-volume collection of essays and Socratic dialogues – "The Progressive Revolution" (University Press of America, 2013). Visit his popular law/political blog, "EllisWashingtonReport.com, an essential repository dedicated to educating the next generation of young conservative intellectuals. Read more of Ellis Washington's articles here.