Law and Ten Commandments, Essay Example

Several types of law have been enacted in different parts of the world and it is prudent to have an understanding of the laws as they serve as a guide to how people must live. People are usually controlled through laws and ethical standards that are clearly laid down and this is the same situation in the bible where God used the Ten Commandments as the guide to the people. The types of laws that can be found in many parts of the world are generally classified in four major categories. These categories include the customary law, the religious law, the common law and the civil law. In the contemporary society, religious law has dominated majority of the countries especially the Middle East in such countries as Iran and Israel. In such nations, there are systems of codified religious behavior that are fully developed which are practically applicable in governing the various aspects in the lives of the people. This therefore implies that man needs to be governed under a set of carefully predetermined set of rules and regulations. In these countries, religious law serves as a substitute to the civil law and the vice versa is also applicable (Aaron, 2006).

In the United States however, the situation is different because there is no single religion that has been endorsed and mandated by the government. However, the founding fathers of this great nation were deeply religious. The United States therefore tends to lack any form of religious and traditional laws. All in all, there are a number of universal types of laws that are commonly applicable in all parts of the world and they serve a guidance of behavior to the people. The civil law for example is a common occurrence in almost all nations and states. This type of law outlines the relationships that people must maintain among themselves as well as among organizations. Understanding of the civil law is prudent as it helps people to coexist and behave in constructive manner without any form of conflicts. In the civil law, there is a provision of the Tort Law that gives power to people for finding recourse against any other party for reasons that financial, personal or physical injuries have been inflicted upon them.

The criminal law is also common among many jurisdictions and it is responsible for addressing any harmful violations to the people in the entire society. Anybody breaking the criminal law is usually prosecuted by the government. The Ten Commandments had provisions such as murder, theft, perjury and adultery which are prohibited. The criminal law basically focuses on the behaviors that are commonly associated with illegal actions that require sanctioning on the basis of the criminal code. This sanctioning is the responsibility of the government through attorneys at the district level as well as the prosecutors in the courts of law. Although the person to be sanctioned might have committed the criminal activity, the constitution provides for the rights of representation of such a person by qualified defense lawyers. The responsibilities of addressing the issues that govern the rights of individuals, their liberty and responsibilities is therefore a preserve of the prosecution and the defense lawyers.

Another important category of law entails the private law which is responsible for the regulation of the relationships that exists between different people and the relationships of people and organizations. In this category, the labor law, commercial law as well as the family law may be incorporated. The public law is also a very important classification of law that guides in the regulation of government administrations as well as structures as well as the relationship of the government agencies to the citizens, the employees as well as the rest of the government agencies. In this category, the administrative, the criminal as well as the constitutional law may be classified.

The family and juvenile law are equally important in guiding the ethics and morals in the society. The focus of this type of law is the relationships that are common within the family setting. The common areas of reference include the child welfare, child adoption and divorce. Child abuse, legitimacy, civil unions, domestic partnerships along with marriages are the most commonly prevalent aspects that are practiced by the family lawyers.

The personal injury law is also an important type of law that deals with addressing the deliberate and inadvertent illegitimate actions that may have some negative implications to other people in psychological or physical dimension. The law also addresses issues of medical malpractice, any wrongful death, the accidental collisions, the product liability in addition to workplace injury.

It is crucial to understand these law classifications as they are the guides that usually regulate the standards of behavior and ethics in the private as well as the public life. In the old biblical days, it was also prudent that some guidelines were given to the people through the Ten Commandments. This can be regarded as the constitution of the time and people were supposed to be aware of the contents of the Ten Commandments as a guide in their daily life. This Ten Commandments represented the precise instructions that God gave to the people indicating that they were supposed to worship only one God, Honor their parents and honor the day of the Sabbath. The instructions also prohibit the people against involvement in acts of idolatry, murder, stealing, dishonesty, blasphemy and coveting (Abdrushin, 2009).

The Ten Commandments are responsible for addressing issues of great significance in the lives of the people. It outlines the greatest obligation that man must obey, worshiping God, the greatest injury that man should not do to another person, murder, and the greatest injury that man should avoid in the family bonds, adultery as well as the most crucial obligation to law and commerce, false witness. In the Ten Commandments, there is also evidence of intergenerational obligation manifested in honoring of the parents, and truthfulness as the vital obligation to the entire community (Barenboim, 2005). Theft is also highlighted as an obligation to desist from property movement.

Understanding the Ten Commandments can be considered as a similar issue with understanding the different types of law that are currently in place in various jurisdictions. The Ten Commandments were documented in a variety of interpretation and they were basically summarized to offer the fundamental principles that people should observe. The same case applies to the current law that requires the input of lawyers for their interpretation whenever they are to be applied. The basic premise is to provide the guiding principles that must be applicable universally and across varied circumstances.

Works cited

Aaron, David H. Etched in Stone: The Emergence of the Decalogue. Continuum, 2006.

Abdrushin  The Ten Commandments of God and the Lord’s Prayer. Grail Foundation Press, 2009.

Barenboim, Peter.  Biblical Roots of Separation of Powers. Moscow: Letny Sad, 2005.