Rating: 
Summary: The Cornor Stone of Western Law- must reading
Review: I went to a Christian men's conference once and the speaker asked the audience how many of us believed in the Ten Commandments and, of course, every hand shot up. The next question the speaker asked was a little more troubling- How many of you can repeat the Ten Commandments from memory. The silence was deafening. Not one hand was raised. It was at that moment that I purposed in my heart to buy this book. In light of the recent court challenges on the public display of the Ten Commandments and the increasing hostility towards the Judeo-Christian values, this book is must reading for those of us who hold these values dear. The Ten Commandments are the cornerstone upon which Western law and civilization are based upon. Even as a pastor, this book was convicting. Subtitled: The Significance of God's Laws in Everyday Life, Schlessinger made me reconsider much of my behavior. For instance, the Eighth Commandment, You shall not steal- has implications that many of us have not even considered. At the base of this commandment is that God considers the possession of things of significant importance; thus when we violate someones property, we are violating them. Practical application? How about borrowing and forgetting to return property? I had to go through my bookshelves and garage and return a multitude of items I had borrowed. The lesson of this book is clear: The Ten Commandments have profound implications for how we live. Put this book on your must read list.
Rating:
Summary: The Cornor Stone of Western Law- must reading
Review: I went to a Christian men's conference once and the speaker asked the audience how many of us believed in the Ten Commandments and, of course, every hand shot up. The next question the speaker asked was a little more troubling- How many of you can repeat the Ten Commandments from memory. The silence was deafening. Not one hand was raised. It was at that moment that I purposed in my heart to buy this book. In light of the recent court challenges on the public display of the Ten Commandments and the increasing hostility towards the Judeo-Christian values, this book is must reading for those of us who hold these values dear. The Ten Commandments are the cornerstone upon which Western law and civilization are based upon. Even as a pastor, this book was convicting. Subtitled: The Significance of God's Laws in Everyday Life, Schlessinger made me reconsider much of my behavior. For instance, the Eighth Commandment, You shall not steal- has implications that many of us have not even considered. At the base of this commandment is that God considers the possession of things of significant importance; thus when we violate someones property, we are violating them. Practical application? How about borrowing and forgetting to return property? I had to go through my bookshelves and garage and return a multitude of items I had borrowed. The lesson of this book is clear: The Ten Commandments have profound implications for how we live. Put this book on your must read list.
Rating: 
Summary: Which commandments are valid?
Review: I wonder if Dr. Laura could explain what happened to the commandments God gave Moses the first time (which he smashed) and the second set of commandments? Except for three, they are all different. Did God change his mind between visits? There is nothing new or unique about the commandments. They existed in other forms and religions before Moses came along. Man is fond of making "Behaviour lists." The Commandments are not bad rules in general, but Dr. Laura's blind faith in scripture (which was inspired by humans) is the sign of a mind that doesn't really study or think for itself.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book with incredible, life-changing testimonies.
Review: I'm a very religious person, but we all need a little push sometimes. Dr. Laura's book gave me the strength to get back to the fundamentals--and to keep living a moral life. I found connections to others within the real-life testimonies and Dr. Laura's advice. This book helped me stay on the straight path back to God.
Rating: 
Summary: not scholarly but useful
Review: I've never listened to her show; it's not on the stations that we can actually tune in here. In fact, pretty much all I know about Dr. Laura is that within days of the publication of this book she was all over the Web buck naked, because an old flame sold some photos of her, and right now the Gay Lobby is raising unholy hell with Paramount because they don't think she should have her own TV show. Seems the good doctor has the temerity to refer to homosexuality as aberrant behavior and that's raised some hackles. But based on that little bit of info, I figured the book might at least be entertaining. It is. Schlessinger and her rabbi coauthor have not set out to rewrite the Ten Commandments. Nor are they trying to author some weighty scholarly tome. Instead, what we have here is a book that reflects the strengths and weaknesses that you would expect of a conservative talk radio host. It is a chatty, opinionated, somewhat shallow, but topical and democratic (with a small d) survey of how the Mosaic commandments pertain to modern life. Here is how they render the commandments and how they interpret them: 1. I am the Lord, your God, who has taken you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery Acceptance of God as the ultimate author of morality and leaning of life. 2. You shall not recognize the gods of others in My presence Beware of idolatry. Attaining money, power, stimulation, professional success, and accumulating possessions, while legitimate pursuits, are not the ultimate purpose of life. 3. You shall not take the Name of the Lord, your God, in vain How we acknowledge or deny God and godliness through our words and deeds. 4. Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it Recognize the value of time by refocusing on the most important elements of life; family, obligations to others, prayer, kindness, justice, and decency. 5. Honor your Father and your Mother The obligation to parents reinforces the concepts of treating others responsibly in spite of sentiment or situation. 6. You shall not murder Each human being is the essence of uniqueness, yet equally created in God's image. Not only can a life by physically taken, but demoralization and humiliation can kill our souls. 7. You shall not commit adultery Sexual relations are made special and holy through a covenantal marriage. The honoring of commitments provides the family stability necessary for individual growth and health, community peace, and societal welfare. 8. You shall not steal Respecting the property and reputation of others provides mutual safety, peace, and prosperity. 9. You shall not bear false witness against your fellow While we should keep far from falsehoods, knowing when information could or should be shared can make the differences between destroying and helping others. 10. You shall not covet Desire for the possessions of others destroys relationships and leads us to violate the other Commandments. Now one of the things that makes the Commandments themselves so remarkable is the degree to which they remain universal and timely thousands of years after Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with them. But who hasn't looked askance at a few of the ten? A couple of them just seem too parochial. But the authors' section on idolatry--one of those concerns that does not on its face seem to be too immediate--is a particularly good example of what makes the book useful. We all tend to think of the second commandment as an outdated injunction against golden calves and the like. But they breath life back into it by reading it as simply an admonition to keep the relationship with God and a God centered morality at the forefront of our lives, rather than the pursuit of wealth or fame or physical sensation. At the point where any of these pursuits becomes the be all and end all of one's existence, they partake of the nature of a new religion. Cast in this fresh perspective, what seems at first glance to be an antiquated call for monotheism (we are all monotheists now), becomes a timely call for keeping our priorities straight. Likewise, the section on keeping the Sabbath day reminds us that the importance of the day is less that it be formulaically dedicated to God than that it be an opportunity for us to step back from the hectic rush of daily life and focus on the things that are truly important--foremost among them are faith and family. Regardless of whether folks are any longer willing to admit it, our culture is by and large derived from this decalogue, from the various subsequent covenants with God and from the Gospels. Any book that reminds us of that fundamental fact, and restores some vigor to the foundational laws of Western Civilization, is worthwhile. This is not the place to look if you want some scholarly dissertation on the Commandments, but it is a perfectly acceptable look at why they remain important to our lives and to the continued health of our society. GRADE: C+
Rating:
Summary: out of place
Review: I've not read this book, but I used to listen to Dr. Laura on the radio. Dr. Laura's books have been popping up in Christian bookstores and I find it somewhat alarming and out of place. If you are a Christian I would suggest reading it to see what the Jewish perspective is. But for a Christian, the commandments only serve to give us a knowledge of sin and then that would lead one to Christ so we can be justified, not by trying to obey the law, but rather by faith in Christ who has obeyed the ten commandments and perfectly loved for us. Just a warning for all you Christians out there.
Rating:
Summary: out of place
Review: I've not read this book, but I used to listen to Dr. Laura on the radio. Dr. Laura's books have been popping up in Christian bookstores and I find it somewhat alarming and out of place. If you are a Christian I would suggest reading it to see what the Jewish perspective is. But for a Christian, the commandments only serve to give us a knowledge of sin and then that would lead one to Christ so we can be justified, not by trying to obey the law, but rather by faith in Christ who has obeyed the ten commandments and perfectly loved for us. Just a warning for all you Christians out there.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't talk abou what the 10 Commandments actually say
Review: If your goal is to learn about the 10 Commandments, this is not the book. In it, Dr. Laura engages in her usual tirade of irrational pontification and says little, for example, about the 10 Commandments in any kind of historical perspective. There is no discussion, for example, of how 3 passages in the Commandments mention how to treat one's slaves, but none of them even bother to suggest that there is anything wrong with one person owning another. Slaveowners used the 10 Commandments to justify owning slaves, and it was by the hand of Abraham Lincoln, generally thought by scholars to have been an irreligious infidel, that slavery was put to an end. There is no discussion of the differences in the various sets of commandments (there are three sets in the Old Testament, one of which contains the commandment that tells us not to bathe the kid in its mother's milk, thus no goat stroganoff for lunch today kids!), or the differences between sects, such as the fact that the Douay Bible skips the idol worship commandment, for obvious reasons.
Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking for those inclined to open their minds
Review: In the words of Earl Spencer, "True goodness is offensive to those on the opposite end of the moral spectrum." I guess that's why those who so vitriolically attack Dr. Laura at every opportunity do so. If you don't agree that the world could use a little more of the Ten Commandments, you haven't been reading the paper. As the book makes clear, no matter what religion you are (even if you espouse no religion at all), these are rules that would benefit us all if we were to all obey them. It is certainly true that Dr. Laura has not kept all ten all her life. What is in her favor is that she has admitted her errors, repented of them, and tried to repair any damage. Funny that a country willing to absolve Bill Clinton of anything and everything is unwilling to give Dr. Laura any slack at all.
Rating:
Summary: Dr. Laura Challenges The Weak
Review: In this book, Dr. Laura Schlessinger challenges the reader to update his/her thinking to include the most basic of rules: The Ten Commandments. She doesn't mince words and puts forth a challenge to the weak among us (that's all of us, in some way) to live UP to the Ten Commandments, not DOWN to today's moral vacuum. Dr. Laura may not be the best writer around but the message is crystal-clear: Clean Up Your Act, Take Responsibiltiy, And Stop Acting Like A Spoiled Brat. More, she makes the reader examine one's lifestyle, clearly uncomfortable for many. I found the book deliciously challenging and spot on in today's Conservative atmosphere.
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