The American Theocracy - Number Three

You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
~ Exodus 20:7, RSV ~

Application: Slander and libel statutes would be rewritten to include the crime of blasphemy. National leaders would encourage citizens to spy on and report to the police or FBI anyone who invoked the name of the Lord to legitimize fraudulent claims to authority.

Exceptions: Televangelists and evangelical speakers would be immune from these laws. They could continue at will to claim anything and everything consistent with fundamentalist beliefs as a method to try to fleece more and more monetary contributions out of their captive American audience.

Elected leaders would also be immune. They could continue to tell Americans that God himself had ordained whatever draconian policies they were instituting or that God himself had instructed them to attack the foreign land of the month.

Average citizens, however, would be dealt with severely if found to be committing blasphemy. Long prison sentences or worse would be par for the course.

If you're interested in reading more from this tongue-in-cheek series, go to the The American Theocracy Index page.