by Jason Todd

Created on: July 03, 2007

Ideally, the proceedings of a court of law should resemble the scientific process. The jury should be presented with all of the facts available with a minimal amount of emotional influence. The reality is that emotion is often a significant factor in the course of a trial. However, steps can be taken to reduce the amount of emotion that is irrelevant to the case. One such step would be discontinuing the use of religious texts in the courtroom.

America is a very diverse nation. While the majority of Americans claim to be of the Christian persuasion, a significant portion of the population is not. When a person is expected to swear an oath on a religious text, the sets up the opportunity for bias before any testimony is given.

As I said, the majority of Americans are Christians of varying degrees of faith. If a witness refuses to swear on the Bible, the majority of the jury has already been influenced by an emotion that has nothing to do with the facts of the case. Even a devout Christian can be negatively impacted by this bias. He may refuse to swear on the bible based on his reading of the very thing he is supposed to swear on. Matthew 5:34-37 of the King James Version of the Bible has this to say about oaths: "But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."

In order to eliminate this opportunity for bias, I propose that the opportunity to swear any oath in a court of law be removed. Witnesses should receive a thorough explanation of their rights and obligations, along with a clear account of the consequences of lying in a court of law. The witness will then give a legally binding verbal acceptance of the terms.

A lie is still a lie, even if you did not swear an oath not to lie. The consequences of lying are the same either way, in this world and the next. Let's keep religion out of our courtrooms and let God administer his own justice.

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