Church "texted" new commandment

THE first 10 commandments were written by the finger of God and handed to Moses on Mt Sinai, the 11th has been sent to the Methodist Church in Britain by text message from a pub.

The church announced the new commandment - "Thou shalt not worship false pop idols" - today after holding a contest in the country's pubs aimed at sparking an ethical debate among young people.

The church, together with Christian website shipoffools.com, left details of the competition on beer mats in pubs around the nation, inviting drinkers to text suggestions for an 11th commandment.

"The idea was to get people, especially those in their 20s and 30s, thinking about the commandments and to prompt a debate about ethics," said Simon Jenkins, editor of shipoffools.com, who sifted through the 2000 entries.

"By using beer mats, the Methodist Church hoped to connect with a group it doesn't usually reach and it was a brave and bold move.

"In fact, with most of the entries it was as if you could hear the clinking of glasses in the background."

The church, which drew some criticism when it joined with the cult religious website for the competition, said it planned to publish a book of the best entries.

The top five submissions for a new commandment were rounded out by "Thou shalt not kill in the name of any God", "Thou shalt not confuse text with love", "Thou shalt not be negative" and "Thou shalt not consume thine own bodyweight in fudge."

Other suggestions included "Thou shalt not dance like your dad", "Thou shalt not dump your lover by text" and, aptly for the competition's setting and mode of entry, "Thou shalt not hold loud conversations on thy mobile phone in a public place".