The Bible...an "Extraneous Text"????

Just when you thought that it couldn't get any stranger:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/29/national/29bible.html?

This is a link to a story with this headline:

"Colorado Court Bars Execution Because Jurors Consulted Bible"

No, Alice, that wasn't a typo....we just crossed over into Wonderland.

The article is worth reading, because (I'm not kidding) the Colorado Supreme Court said "Jurors must deliberate in that atmosphere without the aid or distraction of extraneous texts."

I don't mean to shout, but

SINCE WHEN IS THE BIBLE AN "EXTRANEOUS TEXT"?

I mean, gee whiz, it's not like our laws are actually based on Biblical principles or anything.

(For those of you who need help finding a clue, that was sarcasm.)

As if we needed any more proof that: a) the judiciary is running scared and b) the Bible does actually have clout can be found in a later quote in the same story:

"Professor Howard J. Vogel, who teaches ethics at Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul and has a master's degree in theology as well as a law degree, said, "I don't think it's a religious text that's the problem here, but rather whether something is being used that trumps the law of the state."

Yes, my faithful readers, the Bible indeed trumps the law of the state..........