I’m glad we’re all agreed now that the problem isn’t Jesus quoting the ten commandments at all, assuming incorrectly that he wanted people to forget them. The question now, apparently, is a little different. Did the toymakers accidentally make Jesus say something they forgot should be attributed to Moses instead? Tom Tomorrow insists that this is all he ever meant by “something wrong.”

It only looks wrong, though, because he assumes that the toy’s speech represents a literal blooper misquote. This is a pretty big assumption (Is it really so hard to picture a first-century Jewish teacher quoting the Hebrew Bible?), and it involves, or at least easily lends itself to, yet another easy stereotype: “Right wing Christian culture is unsophisticated because right wing Christians are stupid and ignorant.”

In reality, there are plenty of right wing Christians out there who know what i just told you, because their weird idea of the Bible’s authority leads them to actually read it, instead of coasting by on the educated stereotypes (right or wrong) that most of us settle for.

What if the toy makers are not so incredibly “stupid” (Tom’s word) they can’t remember or check if Jesus or Moses said something?

What if they see the ten commandments as part of the “Judeo” in “Judeo-Christian heritage,” and think they have good reasons to value and quote them, and to assume that Jesus would value and quote them, that you don’t personally know or care about?

Is that really impossible?

Aaron Gaius Ricker Parks

Personally, I’m all for standing outside Red Lobster and stoning all the polyester-and-cotton shirted, shrimp-cocktail-eating sinners as they exit.

Of course, they will come after me because I have more than one kind of seed planted in my garden, but, hey, what’s a holy war for, anyway?

Does he come with realistic lap to greet children in? Kung-fu grip miracle hands to resurrect the dead? I do like the idea of having a two-pack of fast-hardened Jesus vs. Mega-Satan.