About the Ten Commandments:
For Jews, the 49-day Counting of the Omer – a Torah-based ritual, starting the second day of Passover – ended last week.
Counting the Omer each day, after sundown, represents spiritual preparation and anticipation for the receiving of the Torah, which was given by God on Mount Sinai at the beginning of the month of Sivan.
On the first day of the holiday of Shavuot (meaning “Weeks”), the Ten Commandments are read from the Torah at synagogues, so that everyone will hear the words and experience this sacred moment.
1-I am the Lord thy God.
2- Thou shall have no other gods. No graven images or likenesses.
3- Do not take the Lord’s name in vain.
4-Remember the Sabbath day.
5-Honor thy father and thy mother.
6-Thou shall not kill.
7-Thou shall not commit adultery.
8-Thou shall not steal.
9-Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10-Thou shall not covet.
These commandments are written in short sentences, but they are meaningful and very hard to apply every day.
It needs a conscious mind, education, and lots of self discipline, restrictions with the complete absence of ego.
I believe the day that a society finally will be able to respect and apply these commandments to its everyday life, its people will live in absolute peace. The presence of police and court systems will no longer be needed.
The Case of Ms. Arias
So what is the relation to the criminal case that has captured the minds of so many people and the time of television networks for over five months?
I do not know Ms. Jodi Arias personally. Listening to the media, though, she obviously has burned all of the commandments. She seems to have knowledge of them, as mentioned to investigators: “Yes, I have heard that in Ten Commandments it says not to kill…”
At 27 years old a talented young and attractive girl has murdered Mr. Travis Alexander, an ex-boyfriend, by multiple stab wounds (27 to 29 times), a slit throat, (ear to ear) and a shot to his face. She has burned every commandment point by point, like a car ignoring all of the red lights while driving.
I have realized that once we burn the first main light, which for me is the last, No. 10 – Though shall not covet – the vicious circle goes around each step and automatically climbs down to the first one. When we covet, we will be obliged to kill, then to steal, to lie, and bearing false witness becomes the way of protection.
With our legal system, we start by blaming everyone. Criminals frequently claim they were abused – by parents, by aunts and uncles. The day of rest disappears as the mind prepares for the next lie. Finally, the person falls into the arms of anyone who will give hope.
Where Is God?
God is forgotten. Images of idols appear. No place is available for the love of God. Especially with defense attorneys who are trying hard to defend, to present their clients as innocent citizens. They advise them how to dress. They make up codes. By any means, they try to win the case and satisfy their ego, regardless of the presence of the evidences in their files.
One small reminder: All of these words are presented after the criminal and the attorneys have placed their hands on the Bible by repeating: “All true, nothing but truth.”
Why do we always throw the ball to another camp? Why do they always find parents and teachers who have abused their clients? Why don’t we, our loved ones and attorneys, chose honesty and truth?
Why do criminals have all rights and not the victims and their families?
Is it because the criminals are still walking and talking among us?
How many people have grown up in abused families, harshly challenging environments, and then become honest, productive citizens?
Why do we want to find a reason for evil doers?
The answer is simple. They have just made a bad choice (though a good one in their minds) with their free will.
Why should they not expect to be punished for the conscious decisions they have made?
Is it because therapists, psychologists and other specialists earn thousands of dollars of taxpayer money deciding otherwise?
(To be continued)
Dr. Rosemary Hartounian Cohen, who lives in the Fairfax District, received her Ph.D in sociology from the Sorbonne in Paris. She lived in two other countries before moving, with her husband and children, to Los Angeles in 1984. She has published four books in America. Since 1985, she has operated Atelier de Paris, an international art business, on Robertson Boulevard. Her email address is Rosemary@atelierdeparis.com
