Seems like fairly regularly we hear about somebody, somewhere, trying to get a law passed requiring school classrooms, courthouses, and other public places to post the Ten Commandments. And whenever that happens, some commentator or comedian decides to have a little fun with the instigator of the law. “You want the Ten Commandments posted; can you name them?” And almost inevitably, they can’t. As a general rule, they’re able to name three easily—don’t murder, don’t lie, don’t steal—and then maybe one or two others, honor father and mother, perhaps, or don’t covet; but very few actually manage to list all ten.

Most of you know, I think, that I’m a pretty big Star Trek fan. Not to the point of putting on a costume and going to a convention (although I did dress up as Mr. Spock for Halloween when I was in fourth grade), but I generally watch the older series, at least, in syndication whenever I can. There’s a channel on my TV service that plays the five classic series every night, beginning with the original series (the one with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy) at 7:00, and continuing with The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and finally Enterprise at 11.