Talk:3rd commandment

Removed the following line: ''*The Pledge of Allegiance asks that millions of school children rote recite the pledge "under God" in vain. If taken to mean that you shouldn't say "God" pointlessly then US law requires breaking the 3rd commandment.'' US law does not require anyone to recite the pledge of allegiance - Jehovah's Witnesses, the Amish, Atheists, and various other groups refrain from reciting the pledge. (Incidentally, 4 USC 4 states that while in uniform, american servicemen are not to recite the pledge. The justification for this is that the pledge can conflict with the oath of enlistment/oath of office, which states that a soldier's allegiance is to the constitution, the president, and the officers appointed over him, not the flag, the republic, or god.) Rival 13:08, 2 March 2009 (CST)

Defining the word "vain"
The meaning of the word in Hebrew (la'shav; falsehood) is a fair bit clearer than that of the English translation (vain). The traditional view of this commandment is mentioned in the article.

Raising an objection over the meaning of the word doesn't create a real dilemma. There are several perfectly reasonable answers to that question - or at least ones that would satisfy the believer that he had answered it. It would be far more useful to ask why they take that commandment to mean [whatever their religion says], when the Hebrew text clearly meant that we shouldn't swear a statement in God's name if it is or could be false. --Jaban 04:53, 28 September 2010 (CDT)