Friday, March 28, 2014

Ten Commandments Scavenger Hunt! Part Four, Commandment Seven

Congratulations to Andy Jack, who won the most recent Ten Commandments Scavenger Hunt by posting the following example of theft to his Twitter account:

@david_a_zimmerm March Madness costs employers $3.8 billion in lost productivity. Join my pool: http://games-ak.espn.go.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/2014/en/sharer?redirect=tcmen://deeplink?groupID=51324#10Cscavengerhunt
Good point there. After all, Andy Jack is the walrus. (I could be the walrus; I'd still have to bum rides off of people.) Follow Andy on Twitter at @ajax678 for insights like these and a steady stream of homages to John Hughes.

**Keep reading for a chance to win a free book!**
So that's three commandments down, seven to go. Up next:

Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Such an antiquated phrase for such a current crisis. Here's an excerpt from the book:

***

Will spoke up. "We say that so often, don't we. 'As long as no one's getting hurt, it's OK.' It seems to me we may not know that someone's getting hurt right at that moment. In my experience we don't realize just how much damage we can do to each other - and ourselves - until much later."

Sarah chimed in. "And the ripples of the affair spread out far beyond the spouses. If the affair rocks the husband or wife's world, then those same waves can hit their kids just as hard. Then they spread out to families, to friends, to neighbors. ..."

"So why do we do it?" asked Sam. "Not just today, but back in the Bible? Why do people commit adultery?"

John said, ... " I dropped into the Rescue Mission for lunch last Thursday. I sat down at a table and got drawn into a conversation with three folk who live in the same apartment complex. ... One of them ... has noticed that his neighbor's wife has had a couple of male visitors 'that I don't think are friends with her husband, if you know what I mean.' ... To which his friend respondd, 'Well, you know what the Bible says about women like her. She tempts weak men by saying,

I have perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
Come, let's drink deeply of love till morning;
let's enjoy ourselves with love!
My husband is not at home;
he has gone on a long journey.'"

"You're making that up!" said Sarah. ...

"So, once again, it's the woman who's to blame, huh?" said Yasmina. "Like those poor, weak-willed men just couldn't resist her 'spices.' That's why men commit adultery?"

"Well, at least according to my dining companion."

"Who was quoting the Bible, though, right?"

"Yes. Although it was a pretty select choice of all that the Bible has to say on the subject." John turned to the group. "But what do we think? What's behind adultery - why do we do it?

For once, there was prolonged silence in response to a question, until Carlos said, "Umm, because people aren't getting it at home?"

Sarah reached across the table and swatted him upside the head. Carlos blurted out, "What? What did I say?"

***

So there you have it: a taste of adultery. Get the whole enchilada and nine more besides by picking up the book Ten: Words of Life for an Addicted, Compulsive, Cynical, Divided and Worn-Out Culture. (It's 40% off for a limited time!)

Or you can win it here: just find me a current cultural example of adultery and tag it with the hashtag #10Cscavengerhunt. The best example (as judged by me) gets a free copy of the book!

Meanwhile, if you'd like to hear more about the book, or you simply want to hear Sean's comforting British accent, watch a video about Ten here:

***

Miss a scavenger hunt? See the whole series to date here.

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