by Jacob Vick

Created on: July 31, 2010   Last Updated: August 02, 2010

Besides the obvious reason that there are many more non-Christians in America now, the Bible should no longer be used in courtrooms because it gives the criminal or false witness the sense that they are only swearing an oath to the Christian Lord and not the federal government. It needs to be known that it is a much greater offense to lie to one's government than to lie to their own god(s). And going against what many believe it is proven that the founding fathers did not want Christianity involved in government affairs.

America is an immigrant country filled with people from all over the globe with dozens of different pockets of specific ethnicities. With these different people comes their different culture and religion. These different beliefs pose a problem for the use of the Bible in the courtroom setting. The oath to tell the truth and the whole truth should include a phrase that would include all religions. The new oath would not just say so help you god but instead some phrase that would point out your right to follow any faith. A criminal needs to swear to his own faith otherwise what is the harm in a terrorist lying to the Christian Lord? Even if the Bible is just removed and the oath remains the same there will no longer be the obvious sign towards the Christian base of the oath. The oath will then be up for interpretation as to whether the God mentioned is any faith's god.

It is hilarious to see that the top argument for the Yes side talks about what the founding fathers wanted when it is clear historical fact that Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and many more clearly pronounced their belief that America should not be seen as a Christian state and that the government and religion should not be mixed together. Your faith is your faith but it has no business being implemented in the government and the Justice system. While of course there would be many exceptions to bring religion into the courtroom discussion, especially for certain practices that do break the law (young children drinking wine in church), it still should not be used when it is completely unnecessary.

Using the Bible in the courtroom is picking sides in the religion debate and the Justice system should not have any involvement in that issue. 

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