THE TEN COMMANDMENTS UNDER ATTACK:Part 1,The Sacredness of life

INTRODUCTION
The Ten Commandments-some people have them printed on a sign in their yard. Others want them carved in a stone in a public place. But God wants more. He wants to write them on our hearts.

On August 6, 1945, Lt Col. Paul Tibets piloted a B-29 named the Enola Gay over the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The plane carried just one bomb, nicknamed "Little Boy."

The bombardier, Major Thomas W. Ferebee, released Little Boy, which exploded when it reached an altitude of two thousand feet. Within seconds, Hiroshima was nearly obliterated.

None in the plane said anything until Robert Lewis, the copilot, pounded on Tibets's shoulder and shouted, "Look at that! Look at that! Look at that!" Then Lewis turned away to write in his journal, "My God, what have we done?"

It is believed that by the end of the year, more than 140000 people died as a result of that one atomic bomb.

In 1946, Paul Tibets was assigned to be a technical advisor during atomic tests conducted on the Bikini Islands. The tests were successfully completed in November of that year. To celebrate, the test team threw a party, complete with a cake and icecream. A photograph of two US Navy admirals cutting an iced cake shaped like an atomic mushroom cloud appeared in the Washington Post. The admirals appeared to be snickering at the cake. The wife of one of the admirals joined the party and assisted in cutting the cake. She was wearing a hat that appeared to be shaped like an atomic cloud.

Reaction to the photograph was immediate and overwhelmingly negative. more...of the story

THE SACREDNESS OF LIFE
Thinking people agree that human life is sacred. Its loss is never something to giggle about. The sixth commandment expresses these sentiments succintly:

"You shall not murder (Exodus 20:13). (While the King James Version says, "Thou shalt not kill," most Bible scholars agree that the commandment refers to murder.)

God loves life and He hates death. He longs for all people to experience life at its best. He longs for us to value what He values, for in this we find the key to living life as it should be lived. In this, we find joy.

Why is human life sacred to God? In Genesis 1:27 we are told that God created human beings "in His own image." That means that God created us to resemble Himself. The divine One has placed a touch of Himself in each of us. This gives value to men and women.

When my children were born, I remember searching their faces in order to see something of myself in them. Not only was I able to see physical characteristics that resembles mine, but as time passed by, I saw something of myself in their temparament, behaviour, character and attitude. People would look at my  children and say, "There's no denying that she belongs to you." I took pride in those comments.

Now my children are adults and have started careers related to mine. From time to time, they tell me stories of how they handled different situations at work. Often, they follow the story with a comment such as, "Am I your daughter or what!?"

I feel indescribable joy when I see myself in my children. I believe this experience helps me to cherish them all the more. I long to protect them. There isn't much that I wouldn't do for them. Why wouldn't the same thing be true for our Creator? God made up in His image- He made up look and act like Him. When He sees hints of Himself in us, He cherishes us and longs to protect us
from harm. This is why He have us the commandment protecting life, making it sacred.

God tells us that the wanton taking of human life destroys His image in the victim and therefore wrong. God views an act of murderous violence against one He has created in His own likeness as an act of murderous violence against Himself. We are to treat all human beings with care since each person bears the image of God
......to be continued (BEYOND MURDER TO ANGER)