The Ten (Thugs) Commandments

By Garth A. Rattray

With the recent upsurge in violence within our inner cities, I wondered if thugs live by any (criminal) code. Do they adhere to their version of the Ten Commandments?

The first biblical commandment is: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Obviously, the thugs who cold-bloodedly fire their deadly weapons indiscriminately at innocent men, women and children are not worshipping the same God that I am worshipping.

The second commandment, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth."

But thugs worship their guns with all their hearts and minds. To them, the gun represents their heavenly dreams of power and a tool for earning a living, even though guns bring grief and suffering to individuals, communities, cities and the entire country.

Gun worship

The third commandment, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain", is an admonition to revere the power of the name of God Almighty. But thugs only revere the guns that they worship and the people who provide them.

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." This is a reminder that we are also spiritual beings who need to quiet our physical bodies and meditate/pray regularly. Thugs are not aware of anything 'spiritual', except the duppies that they make.

"Honour thy father and thy mother." Most thugs have no real father and their mothers and grandmothers spoilt them, never brought them up properly, lost control of them long ago, or are totally terrified of them.

"Thou shalt not kill." On the contrary, thugs kill all who disrespect them, threaten them, own stuff that they want, to make a name for themselves, for target practice, or just to watch their victims die.

"Thou shalt not commit adultery." Thugs know nothing about real love, commitment or marriage. Adultery is outside their understanding.

"Thou shall not steal." The concept of stealing is foreign to thugs. As far as they are concerned, they see something that they want, they have a gun, and they can take it by force.

"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour." Thugs rarely bear any kind of witness because, in their minds, 'informah fi dead'. However, if and when they tell lies on others, they justify doing so because in their warped world, the end always justifies the means.

"Thou shalt not covet." Covetousness is part of the basic programming of thugs. It is so ingrained that they actually believe that it endows them with the right to act upon it, no matter who gets in the way.

Thug life

Therefore, the Ten Commandments according to thuggery are:

1. Thugs shall 'worship' the gods of murder, mayhem, war and evil.

2. Thugs shall idolise their only source of pseudo-power - the deadly gun.

3. Thugs shall not call the name of 'shoes' (guns) in vain, lest it be recorded electronically and used as evidence in court.

4. Thugs shall have no Sabbath to keep holy because there is nothing spiritual about thugs.

5. Thugs shall not honour their mother, father, anyone or any human life; for thugs' days on Earth shall not be long anyway.

6. Thugs shall kill because ah juss so di ting set up.

7. Thugs shall commit adultery, whatever that is, because thugs can commit whatever they want.

8. Thugs shall not steal; they simply take what they want from whoever they want, when they want.

9. Thugs shall bear false witness whenever it suits them to do so.

10. Thugs shall covet their neighbours' stuff because, in so doing, they will identify what it is that they want to take from others.

Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and garthrattray@gmail.com.