An attack on secularism?

[Rhyfelwyr]

That is an attack on secularism. Keep that religion out of that court-room.

Also, judges are supposed to be above themselves, as arbitrators of the law. It is not their place to dictate the law as they wish, they merely enforce it.

Isn't the law is only used to determine the nature of the conviction, while the judges set the sentence themselves?

In which case, we are leaving the sentencing to the personal convictions of the judge. It is only natural that their own morality will determine the harshness/leniency in certain situations. Why it is any less appropriate for a judge to draw his morality from the Bible, as opposed to other concepts of morality (say the Darwinian evolutionary view on it etc)?

So the Bible is the new Reader's Digest, then? Anyway, it depends on how the campaign is run. I mean if the Arch-Protestant is doing this in his official capacity, then time to suspend or at least discipline him. If he is doing this as a private expression of his opinion then that is okay, if somewhat awkward for those who are on the receiving end. Because in either case the proper thing to do for those receiving these bibles is to refuse them.

He is doing it as the leader of the Scottish Bible Society, so not in his official capacity. Although he appears to argue that the Bible provides the root of Scots Law, and in doing so suggests Protestant principles are institutionalised into the legal system, which would certainly not be secular. So I suppose the action itself is OK in terms of its secularity, but the motive isn't.

Although bear in mind he may well be right from a legal point of view, the Scottish legal system developed alongside the idea of the 'two kingdoms', which is not really secularism or a theocracy. It makes the church and state separate but equal, each with institutionalised powers in their own sphere. England isn't secular either though, it just uses the Erastian model, where the church is subordinate to the state.

While this all sounds a bit crazy in the 21st century, this guy is no fringe figure. He is one of the top figures on the Scots law scene, and the Queen herself is the patron of the organisation that is distributing these Bibles.