Thou shalt not snitch

Have you heard the new biblical research? Apparently there has been an error in counting the Ten Commandments. There actually are 11. The newly uncovered one? "Thou shalt not snitch." Clothing moguls, rappers and inner-city residents say the command is a firm rule for the culture. In many communities the clearance rate for homicide is down to single digits. One rapper saw his own son get murdered and refused to open his mouth — in order to protect his wallet.

The only problem is the 11th conflicts with the ninth, which says, "Thou shalt snitch." The way Moses actually wrote it: "Thou shalt not bear false witness." If there has been a crime, you must bear proper witness when called upon.

But big-city culture is not the only offender. Suburbia is now into the get-rich-quick benefits of false accusation. There is hardly a divorce without it, and this time it's the lawyers who are doing the rapping.

Kim Shinkoskey

Woods Cross