Jesus is a get out of jail free card

According to an article in today’s Washington Post, HealthSouth Corp CEO Richard Scrushy was acquitted because he was heavily into Christianity.

The acquittal of former HealthSouth Corp. chief executive Richard M. Scrushy in Birmingham yesterday suggests that jurors in the case embraced the defense portrayal of Scrushy as a deeply religious son of the South.

. . .

During the trial, Scrushy appeared on a morning television show in Birmingham called "Viewpoint" in which he and his wife read Bible verses. He began preaching in fundamentalist churches and invited pastors to the trial. Several jurors said in pretrial questionnaires that they attended church.

So there you have it, being religious not only has benefits in the afterlife, it helps you in the here and now.

Comments

[Michael H.]

Hi Half Sigma
Hmmm...the phrase that Jesus spoke, "It is as difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven as it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle," seems appropriate here.

[probligo]

Not here it isn't...

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10333284

"29.06.05

Disgraced morals campaigner Graham Capill is behind bars after pleading guilty to rape and indecent assault.

Shocking details about Capill's years as a sexual predator of three young girls were read to Christchurch District Court yesterday, before Judge Stephen Erber remanded the former Christian Heritage Party leader and police prosecutor in custody.

For one girl, being sexually abused by Capill forms her earliest childhood memory.

For another, Capill was the minister at the Christian college she attended and she recalls the groping that began when she was eight.

He tried to portray it as a "game" but by the time it ended, the abuse had escalated to rape.

The two girls knew each other but the alarm was not raised until years later, on the day of the second victim's wedding.

The first girl was her bridesmaid and while getting changed out of her outfit, Capill barged into the room despite being told not to.

After the incident, she told Capill's wife what had been going on, but the police only became involved after a third girl, now aged 11, complained to her pastor about repeatedly being touched sexually by Capill when she was eight.

In court yesterday, Capill, 46, struggled with emotion and wiped away tears as he pleaded guilty to representative charges of indecently assaulting both girls and raping one of them.

All the charges related to when the girls were aged under 12. "

He was also founder and leader up until a few years back of the "Christian Heritage Party" - a right wing morals pressure party that campaigned the last three elections.

[Luke Lea]

Truly disgusting, the Scrushy verdict. Between that, and the ridiculous tv preachers you see 24/7, no wonder Christianity is getting a bad name amongst the secular.