Should our Laws be Based on the Christian Bible?

Question

Do you feel that the Holy Bible provides a way that promotes fairness and justice for all people, or for the common good?

Fr. Abad A. Perez
http://www.alphaandomegadiocese.org/

Some have suggested that I am proposing that the Bible become the source for the Law in this country. Although I believe that the Bible contains all things necessary for salvation, and that Christ's way is the only Way, I am not suggesting that we do that. I am asking you if you think we should do that.

Answer 1

This would violate the principle of Church and State, which is a fundamental principle of our country, so, no, I don't think that we should just adopt the Bible as the law of the land. That would be a theocracy, which we are not.

That being said, I believe that I, like every other American, have the right to vote based on my values, and since I am a Christian, I do frequently vote for biblical principles.

Answer 2

What laws are you talking about, old or new testament? Most of the law was described in the Old Testament. The Jews might not agree with your version of Biblical law. You may say only Christian laws count, then what version of those do you intend to use because there are many denominations and interpretations and different groups have different ideas about what is important or even applicable today. I realize you would write of non-Christian groups without much concern but how do you decide what Christians are also excluded because they rarely agree on anything.

Our laws in the US are largely based on the Bible, but if we come right out and say it there will be fighting. You would have to make faith and worship part of the law and any religion sustained by such laws is a farce. Learn a lesson from the Muslims in the middle east. Nobody here wants to end up like that. Keep religion out of government or we re-enter the dark-ages.

Answer 3

To start with, a sectarian society is fair only to those who belong to a particular religion. In Iran, there are Christians but they are not treated with the same respect as Muslims.

In the US, if we became a Christian theocracy, would Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, atheists, and agnostics get equal protection under Biblical law?

According to the Bible, the worst sin anyone can commit is to disbelieve that God even exists. So, by Christian/Biblical law its perfectly acceptable to kill an atheist or agnostic.

Next comes the problem of interpretation. Who's interpretation is correct? Would a federal standard have to be adopted? If so, then how would Christians have religious freedom if they are not allowed to interpret scripture according to their personal faiths?

Here are some more problems:

Slavery is perfectly moral and legal according to the Bible. Should we bring it back? Even Jesus didn't have a problem with it.

Beating a slave is legal. It's legal to kill a slave so long as the slave doesn't die within seven days of receiving his/her wounds.

Beating your children is legal, as is killing your children if they're dishonorable and disobedient.

Sacrifices of burnt animal flesh are required to please God.

Homosexuality is punishable by death. At least for males, the Bible is vague about lesbianism, I'd wager it's punishable by death.

Women are not allowed to go to services, they cannot be clergy, they are not allowed to be educated, and they must be second class citizens to men.

Now, most examples are Old Testament, but some are New Testament.

Again, who decides what version of Christianity is the correct one? Consider human history in Europe. How many people died fighting each other over the correct interpretation of the Bible?

Would we want that here?

I won't be totally negative though. Some aspects of the Bible coincide with what I would call universal morality.

Two key principles:
Don't kill.
Don't steal.

There are some who hate the concept of a secular society. They fail to see the advantage of it. They don't understand that their interpretation of scripture might be deemed illegal and innapropriate. In a sectarian society, that would be the case.

If we took a democratic approach, those who believe in End of Times Biblical interpretations, and literal interpretations would lose to Christians who don't preach Apocalyptic, and to the greater society who actually pays attention to science.

So, to summarize, some of our laws do follow the Bible. They stay current because they have been judged in a secular society. Isn't that the basic premise of liberty and justice for all?

Answer 4

For Christians, yes the Bible is a good tool to base your personal beliefs to govern yourself. Always keeping in mind that the Bible says we must submit to the Law of the Land.
HOWEVER, in this-- the greatest Land of the Free, United States of America- we are Constitutionally protected under the Freedom of Church and State policy. So finally to give an overall answer to your question, NO our laws should not be based on ANY specific religions book, Bible, Torah, Qran, etc.

Answer 5

For the most part, our laws at least in the united states are based on church foundation. Chrches and religion in general brought ethical reasoning and basic life rules to most societies. Those in tern led to law. I'm not even religious but do realise the good that has come from that. There are exceptions. Like Sharia law which is brutal in most forms. It would be impossible to take laws with a religious base out of the books to be replaced by another, that in its very nature, would also to some degree be based on religious teachings.

Answer 6

Ahahahaha
That is a ridiculous and unenforceable idea.
In America our laws are based on The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and The Bill of Rights.
Jehovah's laws are unrealistic and patently unenforceable at this time. Each of the so called Ten Commandments carried with it a penalty. Most folks choose to ignore that part. Death by stoning for parental disobedience. Death by stoning for adultery. All of the so called commandments follow likewise. Death by stoning for picking up sticks or working on the sabbath. Jehovah's laws are justly ignored by most. let's keep it that way. Far from fair the Bible God' laws are ridiculous.
No thanks you, i have an aversion to nonsense.

Answer 7

Why?
What has a book cobbled together by a Roman dictator a couple of thousand years ago got to do with today's legal system?
An eye for an eye.
He stole my car, so I'll steal his?
and that sort of stuff.
Many people find the Bible a bit outdated and rather boring!

Answer 8

let me tell you what i'm experiencing:
I'm living in Iran, islamic repoblic of Iran. here laws are based on islam. you know what we have? may be a religious legal system, but it's just a name.
here if you say something against some laws which are based on religion, it's like that you refused the Allah or God. of course this is just abuse from religion and beliefs.
believe me, if we legislate based on religion (whatever it is), we wont have neither religion nor laws. religion is something personal and politic and laws are something for public order. those should be far from eachother, by this way, you'll keep your religious beliefs alive and also a society based on current needs. religions are for years ago and those aren't able to solve the issues that people are involved in 21 century. i hope i could say what i mean. and sorry for my english.

Answer 9

I believe the religious laws that promote public health should be followed.
There are common sense reasons behind religious laws, usually to stop problems. If only people followed those laws, we wouldnt have over 2/3 of our murders(2/3rds of murders are adultry related), and the majority of work violence(all major religions encorage treating workers fairly).

Answer 10

No. I am not a christian so why should your laws be imposed upon me. AS for the bible being fair and Just It says though shalt not kill but all states condone killing. How can laws be fair and just if they are so clearly hypocritical.