the first ten laws

I was recently entrenched in a heated debate with a socialistic atheist who, as any good socialistic atheists would, threw out the following propaganda laden question with absolutely no education or knowledge to substantiate it’s insinuation:

"Answer me why then the ten commandments were not the first ten laws?"

My response is as follows. I will allow you as well to root out the details for yourself through scripture.

“For the sake of time I am not going to list the Ten Commandments from Exodus 20:2-17 (these were the Ten Commandments on the first set of tablets) and the Ten Commandments from Deuteronomy 5:6-22 (these were the Ten Commandments on the second set of tablets). I will let you do your home work and study your own bible to see, that contrary to your question, they are the same. Where I believe your confusion lies is quite common amongst atheist, agnostics, and secularists who try to dispute the inherency of scripture and the significance of the Ten Commandments as exampled by the following web site http://www.positiveatheism.org/crt/whichcom.htm. Most people’s confusion is centered around Exodus 34. The problem with this argument is that what are written in Exodus 34 are not the Ten Commandments but rather the covenant or law that God made with the Jews. Most people skip right over Exodus 34:4 “And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.” It was at this time Moses hewed/carved the Ten Commandments on the new tablets. The same as the first. The covenant or law was to be lived out through the Ten Commandments.”