By MARK HORNE - HERALDSCOTLAND
Added: Sun, 15 Aug 2010 14:13:42 UTC

Thanks to Ropow for the link
Original link

One of the most prestigious figures in Scots law is calling on the country’s courts to take biblical teachings into account when administering justice.
Former Conservative Cabinet member Lord Mackay of Clashfern, who served as Lord Chancellor under Margaret Thatcher and John Major as well as holding the post of Scotland’s Lord Advocate, is fronting a campaign which will see bibles sent to every court in the land.

Mackay, who is also the current Lord Clerk Register, the oldest surviving “Great Office of State” in Scotland, now acts as honorary president of the Scottish Bible Society (SBS), and has invited sheriffs and judges to refamiliarise themselves with biblical principles and act accordingly when presiding over court cases.

Critics have labelled the campaign as an attempt to drag the legal system back to the “dark ages” and likened it to a plea for a fundamentalist Christian version of Middle Eastern Sharia law.

The SBS, whose official patron is the Queen, is currently distributing bibles to Sheriff Courts, the High Court, the Court of Session, the Faculty of Advocates, the Crown Office and offices of the Procurator Fiscal service.

The Bible is a unique resource as the foundational source book for Scotland’s legal system. - SBS booklet

The books are accompanied by a pamphlet entitled The Bible in Scots Law: A Guide for Legal Practitioners, which features an introduction from 83-year- old Mackay. It states: “I believe the teaching of the Bible is vitally important for guidance in daily living for all of us.

“The words and phrases of the 1611 King James version have permeated modern English and this makes it a valuable book of reference, but the modern version is especially useful in dealing with our day-to-day challenges.
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TAGGED: LAW, RELIGION