"Illiterate" Christian Jurors
Category: Faith...
Posted Tuesday, May 27, 2003 at 12:02 PM [GMT-6]

As a Christian, I am disheartened by this story, where a death penalty handed down in a murder case was thrown out because some of the jury members consulted a Bible during penalty-phase deliberations. But my disappointment comes not from the judge's ruling — as this column points out, "...our courts forbid jurors from considering outside information in criminal trials during deliberations. Legal principles dictate that verdicts be based on the evidence and the law given to jurors by the judge."

No, I'm disappointed because I don't believe that the point at which you've been asked to decide the fate of a man's life is the right time to start considering what the Bible has to say about such an issue. Some on the jury in question were quoted as saying that the Bible forms, in effect, a substantial basis for how they live their lives and how they make important decisions. If that's true, it behooves them to understand more about what the Bible actually says about those things, especially when faced with the very real possibility of having to make a life-or-death decision about them.

I mean, no one gets selected for a capital murder trial without knowing in advance that contemplation of the death penalty is likely. The voire dire process was sorely lacking if this never became an issue, and I'd question the state of consciousness of the prospective jurors if the possibility was described but lost on them. Thus, the "Bible-believing" jurist should have plenty of opportunity to do a little Scriptural research in advance, if he or she is a little unclear on what is found in the Good Book.

If it sounds like I'm being a little hard on these folks, well, maybe I am...and I stand subject to the same criticism I level at them. (Perhaps that's why I can be confident in pointing a finger.) But I tend to believe that too many of us Christians are long on opinion and short on Biblical support for same, and there is no excuse for it. Scriptural illiteracy is all too prevalent; "I think..." is heard too often in place of "God says..." when addressing specific issues of ethics or morality.

No, I absolutely find nothing wrong with people consulting their moral compasses before deciding the fate of a man's life...it's horrifying to think people might not do that. But the time to do that is well before reaching for the voting lever.

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