May 4, 2007

The Ten Commandments

Stories of people struggling to follow the Ten Commandments from the book of Exodus.

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Transcript

Prologue

Host Ira Glass reads from the Ten Commandments. Not the original Ten Commandments, but some of the newer, lesser-known ones. There's the Ten Commandments of Paris Dining, the Miner's Ten Commandments of 1853, the Ten Commandments of Umpiring, and the Ten Commandments for Math Teachers — just to name a few. (4 minutes)

By

Ira Glass

Song:

“The Ten Commandments of Love” by Peaches & Herb

Commandments One, Two and Three

As a boy in religious school, Shalom Auslander is informed that his name, Shalom, is one of the names of God, and so he must be very careful not to take his own name in vain. Shalom Auslander is the author of "Beware of God: Stories" and "Foreskin's Lament." (9 minutes)

By

Shalom Auslander

Commandment Four

Keep The Sabbath Holy

Six houses of worship in six different cities, each with its own way of honoring the Sabbath. (3 minutes)

By

Ira Glass

Commandment Five

Honor Your Father And Your Mother

When Jack Hitt was 11, he did the worst thing his father could have imagined. Neither Jack nor his four siblings will ever forget the punishment. (6 minutes)

By

Jack Hitt

Commandment Six

You Shall Not Murder

Alex Blumberg talks to Lt. Col. Lyn Brown, an Army reserve chaplain who served two tours in Iraq. Brown talks about what "thou shall not kill" means to soldiers on the battlefield. (6 minutes)

By

Alex Blumberg

Song:

“Kish” by David Byrne

Bonus Audio

More on You Shall Not Murder

Commandment Seven

You Shall Not Commit Adultery

In the book of Matthew, Jesus says that looking lustfully at a woman is like committing adultery in your heart. Contributor David Dickerson was raised as an evangelical Christian, and for many years tried not to have a single lustful thought. (9 minutes)

By

David Ellis Dickerson

Commandment Eight

You Shall Not Steal

Ira talks to a waiter named Hassan at Liebman's Deli in the Bronx about some audacious thefts he's witnessed in his years in the restaurant business. (3 minutes)

By

Ira Glass

Commandment Nine

You Shall Not Bear False Witness

Chaya Lipschutz wanted to donate one of her kidneys to a stranger. But to save a stranger's life, she had to break the commandment against lying. And the person she had to lie to was her mother. Chaya talked to Sarah Koenig. (8 minutes)