Psalm’s 23: The Get of Jail Card
A man in Cincinnati was recently released from jail on a $10K appearance bond for being able to recite the 23rd chapter of Psalms at the request of the presiding judge. At the same time, there’s a dispute growing here in Houston. A judge is under fire for having Bible classes inside the court which some consider at least inappropriate and others considering it an opening for religious bias to enter the court system.
The thing is, it’s not unusual for religious people to use their positions to enforce their views. The question is “why†and I think the answer is related to the superior position given to religious groups and the publics response to any questioning of that superiority and how it can affect public works.
For example, take Rae Gennarelli’s “Godly jurists, rulings†response:
I WAS distressed by Lisa Gray’s April 22 column. She and I have completely opposite views on the type of person we want to judge the cases that come to court. I prefer a Christian judge who knows his Bible and makes decisions based on the wisdom that comes only from God. I suppose she wants a judge who bases his decisions on a worldview that doesn’t include that guidance from God.
Otherwise she would be encouraged that a judge is studying his Bible and knows he should conduct himself according to only the highest of standards. Without godly men and women on the bench, we would reach a state of chaos that I would not want to contemplate.
It’s apparently alright because what the public needs is godly leaders who use not the secular laws as the basis of their decisions, but the “wisdom that comes only from God†lest we be thrown into “chaosâ€.
The question, I guess, is how do we effectively stop current/future religious bias in public institutions while respecting the religious rights of the individuals? From where I stand, I think the first step inevitably involves banning religious meetings from public institutions much in the same manner that some companies ban Amway meetings.
We have to start somewhere and since so many use the government’s implicit and/or explicit support as proof of the truthfulness/superiority of their religion, that seems to be the place to start.
Your thoughts?
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Ahh, the evilness of being a thinking person in a xtian twilight zone. I have fallen into that vortex on many occasions. I work for the state government. Some years ago, the xtian guerillas decided to have “bible study” which would be fine, if done AFTER WORK HOURS. They were having it while they were working! I wrote a letter to the warden(and my 15+ years of being a Union activist didn’t hurt) which caused them to have to change their ways. I then began receiving death threats in my mail box, my car was damaged, these “xtian” people would try to set me up on charges(although I hadn’t been written up in the first 15 years of work).
Yes, the religious reich want their rights protected…and only thier rights.