The 11th Commandment and Twit-Nozzles

 

I subscribe to the Washington Post, online, and this Nick Galifianakis cartoon accompanying the advice column by Carolyn Hax caught my fancy recently.  I'd never heard of an "entitled twit-nozzle" before but this should be the eleventh commandment with a ... following to fit a host of circumstances. 

There was a time when a lot of people would have at least a general notion of the Ten Commandments and even an awareness of the story in Exodus where Moses leaves the sojourning people of Israel to go up a mountain to receive the tablets with the moral code which guided them into a new land. There are a number of "thou shalt nots" in that list, as well as as a "remember" (the Sabbath) and an "honour" (parents). 

                                                                                Marc Chagall 

There have been plenty of suggestions for an eleventh commandment along the way, including "thou shalt not destroy Creation", which I like alot.  Arguably, a prohibition on being an entitled twit-nozzle could encompass environmental destruction. 

This really is a fun cartoon and because I'm United Church I may now earnestly intone the 11th Commandment whenever possible. It might be invoked in response to those who insist that the Ten Commandments be posted in courthouses and other public institutions.

 In the event you need a refresher on the first ten, here you go...

The Ten Commandments

 1 Then God spoke all these words,

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation[b] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.[c]

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female slave, ox, donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Exodus 20: 1-17 NRSVue