[Darris McNeely] I recently did a program about the Ten Commandments. And in doing research about this, I found from the archives a story that goes back more than 30 years ago to 1987 when ABC newsman, Ted Koppel, gave a commencement address at the Duke University in North Carolina. It was a very interesting one. I remember it at the time, but frankly, I had forgot it and a lot of people today don't even know about it. Mr. Koppel made a comment about the impact of the media at that time, 1987, upon American culture, and especially as he talked, he made some direct statements about the impact of the law of God, the Ten Commandments. Talking about his own news media professionals, he said, "We are beginning to make a mark on the American psyche. We have actually convinced ourselves that slogans will save us. Shoot up," he said, "if you must, but we say, 'Use a clean needle. Enjoy sex whenever and with whomever you wish, but wear a condom.' In the place of truth," he went on, "we've discovered facts. For moral absolutes, we have substituted moral ambiguity. We now communicate with everyone and say absolutely nothing." And that was a comment about the media in 1987. It's completely changed now with the advent of the internet and where we are today. 

Mr. Koppel went on and he said, "No. The answer is no. No, because it isn't cool or smart or because you might end up in jail or dying in an AIDS ward. No," he said, "because it is wrong." Then he goes on to say this, "What Moses brought down from Mount Sinai were not the 10 suggestions, they are commandments. 'Are' not 'were.' The sheer brilliance," he said, "of the Ten Commandments is that they codify in a handful of words acceptable human behavior, not just for then or now, but for all time." Mr. Koppel was a secular prophet of his day. We've blown way past that time, way past it. He couldn't even give that address today. And if he did actually sneak it in some place, I'm afraid he'd have to apologize because his comments would be deemed offensive by people and he would have to issue a public apology.

The Ten Commandments are a concise set of laws that reflect the beauty of God's mind toward His human creation. They are ten commands that order life and create harmony, stable, and functioning a peaceful society. There's a scripture in the book of Hosea that God sent to His ancient people that says, "Because Ephraim has made many altars to sin, altars shall be to him sin. I have written to him, to his own nation," God says, "the great things of My law, but they are counted as a strange thing." (Hosea 8:11-12)

The great things of the law of God today have become strange as well. What Mr. Koppel said back in 1987 couldn't be said today in such a forum. That's unfortunate, but that's reality. I hope and pray that you and I can say that, believe that, and live by the Word of God, by the law of God, His Ten Commandments.

That's BT Daily. Join us next time.