Devotional – Biblical Wisdom Name Institution Instructor Course Date Devotional – Biblical Wisdom The Impact of the Ten Commandments on Criminal Law in the United States The Ten Commandments have had a huge impact on the laws in most countries including the United States
Devotional – Biblical Wisdom
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Devotional – Biblical Wisdom
The Impact of the Ten Commandments on Criminal Law in the United States
The Ten Commandments have had a huge impact on the laws in most countries including the United States. The Ten Commandments are based on what individuals are expected to do and not to do to ensure peace between individuals and respect to a sovereign being who is God (Roth, 2011). The American criminal law uses the same principles, which are meant to direct individuals on what to do and what not to engage in as this may lead to negative effects on the victims (Roth, 2011). The Ten Commandments have become the principles of judging individuals as well as a country. The Ten Commandments are meant to instill the right moral behavior, which has also been adopted by the criminal law in the United States (Roth, 2011).
The Ten Commandments have also basic principles, which have been accepted in other religions to instruct people on how to behave. The criminal law also borrows from this aspect to instruct people on how to behave and treat each other. The Ten Commandments also apply to everyone and are not discriminative (Federer, 2003). Criminal law has also used this principle by being not discriminative to certain individuals. Criminal laws are meant for everyone regardless of their religion or where they come from. For justice to be fair, the criminal law has followed the principles of the Ten Commandments to provide justice to everyone (Federer, 2003).
Although other traditions were used in the development of the legal system of the United States, the Ten Commandments were largely used as the foundation of the American criminal law (Federer, 2003). The criminal law is meant to determine the moral responsibilities of the people, which is also a virtue borrowed from the Ten Commandments. This includes prohibition of murder and theft, which are in the American legal system (Exodus 20:14). These are meant to inform us on what is right and wrong so as the American criminal law.
References
Federer, W. J. (2003). The Ten Commandments & their influence on American law: A study in history. St. Louis, MO: Amerisearch, Inc.
Life Application study Bible: New International Version. (2012). United States: Tyndale House Publishers Inc.
Roth, M. P. (2011). Crime and punishment: A history of the criminal justice system. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
