Supreme Court Moving Toward Christian Version of Sharia?
Posted on 20 April 2009 by Jim Walrod
The United States Supreme Court has turned away a challenge from a Texas death row inmate. In his filing he challenged the constitutionality of a jury verdict because the jurors consulted a Bible during deliberations to help decide on a sentence. One Texas case on that issue was denied review in October; the new case from that state, Oliver v. Quarterman (08-833), was denied today (04/20/2009).
The jurors reviewed a biblical passage relating that a murderer who used an iron object to kill “shall surely be put to death.” They were deciding whether to impose a death sentence on Khristian Oliver for fatally shooting and bludgeoning his victim with the barrel of a gun.
The court previously has said that jurors should base their verdicts only on evidence presented in the courtroom.
With this new decision has this conservative controlled court taken a step closer to bringing a Christian version of Sharia to America? Can we expect stoning of women accused of being seen public with a non-relative male? Maybe those on the right will all gather on the steps for a beheading or two?
seriously loser – there is no such thing as a Christian version of sharia…what a joke
Even your beloved Obama has stated numerous times the US is not a Christian nation…
What you intentionally confuse and misrepresent as Christian to intentionally slander Christians and apparently conservatives in general – is actually ISLAMIC SHARIA LAW – the only sharia law there is… stoning of women and beheading are common place in all Muslim countries ruled by sharia and we are seeing it in the US more and more…
You keep on distorting it homeboy
Mara,
No confusion on my end. I’m pretty sure the facts of the story speak for themselves. Thanks for the comment.
The Captain
Mara,
Your ignorance is mind-numbing.
Using the Bible in a United States courtroom is, at the very least, unconstitutional. (See the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.) Sentencing in this country must conform to CIVIL LAW, not Biblical interpretation.
If you actually read a Bible someday instead of just thumping it, you’ll find all kinds of prescribed sentences for assorted crimes. Jesus actually stopped the stoning of a woman, a sentence perfectly legal under Jewish law at the time.
The story here is about a jury that consulted the Bible to determine a civil punishment. Sharia law is not so very different, in that it looks to someone’s interpretation of the Koran for guidance rather than CIVIL LAW. The problem, and the reason it violates our Constitution, is that if you open the door to sentencing based on the holy book of one religion, you MUST open it to ALL religion. Thus, if we allow Bible-based sentencing, we must allow Sharia-based sentencing.
And Mara? If you ever want to be taken seriously when defending Christianity? Stop the name-calling. I’m pretty sure it’s not what Jesus did or even had in mind when he preached love and forgiveness.
You’re kidding, right?
Sharia prescribes the amputation of the hand of a thief (or, in Shi’a courts, the amputation of the four fingers of the right hand), stoning or flogging of an adulterous woman, and flogging (usually with a cane) of someone who consumes alcohol. What does that have to do with Christianity? The fact of the matter is, the jurors found the man guilty and the question was whether or not the death penalty should be imposed. Consulting the Scriptures before distinguishing before life in prison and the death penalty did not result in his conviction — it merely affirmed it.
Do a little research before you make baseless claims.
And you’ve answered the question posed. Not if you can help it right? Thanks for the read and the comment. Come back and post often.
Iwanttoheaddesk, the Bible does not belong in a courtroom in the United States of America. Period. Whether to decide a sentence or affirm a sentence, it simply does not belong. If you start basing or even affirming any sentence based on the Bible, you violate the separation of church and state. Try revising this incident a bit; assume the jury had consulted the Koran. Would you be comfortable with that?
And if we are going to consult the Bible to affirm sentencing, I guess it would be ok to sentence a woman to being stoned to death for committing adultery, right? Or how about crucifixion as a sentence for thievery? Would that be ok with you, as long as the Bible was consulted before the sentence was imposed? Oh, yeah, I forgot—back in the early days of this country, we did put people to death for theft. They were hung. And the people of this country made great family celebrations of the hangings, with picnics. Thankfully, we’ve moved past that time. But it would be very, very easy for us to return to those times. All we need do is rely on a religious text instead of civil law for sentencing guidelines.
Wow, the ignorance of the Christian posters on this one is shocking. “What does this have to do with Christianity, Muslims are savages, dontcha know?!?”
Similarity to Sharia = using religious texts for punishment
God, you make yourselves look stupid.
Not stupid just closed minds. Closed minds that have lead all of us into the mess we are now experiencing.
Sharia? No, not sharia. First of all, the law requires a defendant be judged by a jury of his peers. If his peers wish to consult with a bible for guidance, they may. It is not against the law to be a Christian in this country. Furthermore, their findings were perfectly in line with our Constitution since the death penalty was already on the table for the criminal. Had the death penalty not been on the table, it is obvious that any finding for the death penalty would be useless and irrelevant.
While it IS true that stoning was permitted in the Old Testament, it is also true that Judaism has been reformed constantly over the years. Judaism has ONGOING reformation and there is no place anywhere that Jews stone adulterers or anyone else today nor have they for over a millennium. This is the mistake that many people such as the author of this article and some of the commenters make when trying to make the argument that Christianity and all religions are as bad as Islam or even worse.
While there was violence in the Old Testament, it was limited to a specific time towards a specific enemy in a specific place. That is, when the war was over, there was no more command by God to go to war. And, in the New Testament, there is no call to war. In fact, Jesus preached peace, love, and justice. If everyone actually FOLLOWED the path of Jesus, there would be peace.
Previous violence committed in the name of Jesus, therefore, were a misapplication of theology.
In Islam, there is no misapplication of theology. Violence, warfare, murder are all mandated in the Koran. Rape and pedophilia and lying and theft are all condoned. Mohammad himself was a murderer, a beheader, a rapist, a liar, a thief and a pedophile. And, in Islam, everything Mohammad did is considered perfect and cannot be criticized. To do so is considered blasphemy.
This is why there is violence today in Islam. What was written 1400 years ago drives jihad today.
There is no reformation in Islam since to call for reformation means one is criticizing the direct word of god (as opposed to the INSPIRED word in the NT) and is also considered blasphemy.
Islam calls for war until the entire world is under sharia law. They believe we are in dar al Harb, or the “House of War” until we reach a state of dar al Islam, or “The House of Islam”.
So, you can keep posting as many revolting articles as you wish but that doesn’t make them true. You can spew your opinions, but that doesn’t make them factual. Your opinions mean nothing since they don’t reflect the actual Truth. Your opinions are subjective– what I’ve posted here is objective truth.
I hope not to accidentally come across your site again so I will not be back to see your response.