Don't Dare Read Your Bible

Over the past few weeks much has been said about the judicial system over-stepping their boundaries and ignoring the popular will of the people. While much of this backlash against the courts can be attributed to high profile cases like Terri Schiavo and others, another case illustrates just how out of touch the court has become.

In 1995 Robert Harlan kidnapped and brutally murdered a young woman in Colorado. He was convicted and sentenced to the death penalty. His death sentence was recently overturned by the Colorado Supreme Court because it ruled the jury consulted the bible during their deliberations and thus violated the law. Apparently, the bible wasn't considered part of the facts in evidence and therefore the jury used information outside the scope of the trial to arrive at their sentence.

When I first heard about this case, I had to check and make sure it wasn't April 1st because I was sure somebody was making it up. How could a fair sentence, determined by a non-biased jury be thrown out simply because they sought to bring their religious perspective to the case. Have we really come this far in our antipathy towards Christianity? Isn't this the same court that used to have people swear on the bible to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help them God?

I find it highly ironic that our laws are based on a moral code of right and wrong but when a juror has a religious basis for applying this moral code, they have somehow overstepped the law. If Christians are not allowed to bring their religious and moral judgment to trial then maybe they should be excluded altogether. We could just add a new question on the jury application and when you check Christian they automatically disqualify you from jury service. This could be a very good evangelical tool.

The court should not expect people of faith to check their world view at the steps of the courthouse. To do so would compromise their most deeply held beliefs. Christian jurors cannot and should not make their determination in a moral vacuum free from their personal experiences. Interestingly, the court has no such difficulty allowing preconceived bias to accompany other jurors to the trial as long it's based on culture, economics, race or sex. Religion is the one factor that judges are afraid of. And that makes me very afraid of our judges.