Well, to be fair, I want it to be a Matthew 19: 18-19 version, which values are pretty consistent in all of the major religions (and yes, he is talking about the commandments) -

(snip) {18} Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, {19} Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

Now, what do we get from this passage?

No murder. No adultery. No stealing. No lying about other people. Behave so your parents can be proud, and take care of them in their age. Watch out for your neighbors, and help them out.

Since we are in fantasy land at the moment, let's take a moment, look once again at those values, and examine what our laws and national budget would look like, if we were to practice those preachings.

= A prudent people keep an army for defense, but not go into other countries to kill for no reason or to steal the resources of others; we would be out of Iraq and Afghanistan, or at the very least, not allowed to kill people there. (Hmmm. Armies that are supposed to help, instead of kill? TALKING about issues, instead of shooting at people? This seems a tad preposterous already!)

= Neighbors helping each other out, as well as taking care of our elderly, would involve medical care, and ways to provide dignity for those who need assistance, as well as a common sense policy making sure everyone has access to adequate nutrition, good roads, schools/education, clean water, housing, etc.

= "No stealing" would mean strict enforcement of guarding our national assets (parks, wildlife, etc.). A liberal interpretation would have oversight put in place to make sure corporations don't "steal" the health and well-being of the public with shoddy or unsafe practices.

= No bearing false witness would require either a simple return of the Fairness Doctrine, or a new one called "Quit Lying Your Assess Off" and the air pollution of Fox and Limbaugh would go away. Facts would be the starting point of news discussions, and opinions on how to solve problems would be discussed. "News" would actually be relevant, instead of nasty gossip about other people....

Well, the reality is, we aren't a Christian nation, and the folks in power (especially the Republican party) wear the sheep's clothing of professing these beliefs, while being ravening wolves beneath. (See Bush Jr. presidency, and then refer to Matthew 7:15-20 "where by their fruits ye shall know them.")

I guess the problem is our leaders are rich men, and I'm willing to put a bet on how many regularly give a percentage of their wealth to the poor, let alone follow Matthew 7:21 -

21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. -

And a poor man can't afford to get into office (and we would realistically question his judgment on how to manage his career/finances, depending on what was going on, since we do not respect "poor" people).

If our leaders (and us, by default) aren't following the teachings of Jesus, or Mohamed, or Moses, or Buddha, or Krishna, or any of the great and wise lessons on how to be decent this world has been gifted with (including Kindergarten), I can only conclude we worship the Almighty Dollar instead. Heaven knows most of us spend our lives chasing it!

I wish we were a "Christian" Nation instead....

(EDIT: for grammar issue - sorry!)