I recently watched a video of one of OJ Simpson’s alleged co-conspirators in a Las Vegas armed robbery holding a Bible and claiming that “I’m a Christian man.” His attorney immediately told him to shut up, which was very good advice. You can claim that his actions were just naive attempts at posturing; however, I see something much more interesting going on.

There’s an indelible link between our ideas of religion and our ideas of justice. More than loving your neighbor, more than forgiveness, more than culture and nationalism, the idea of justice is central to any persistent view of religious thought.

So OJ’s alleged partner in crime wasn’t actually stealing anything. In his mind he was righting a wrong, helping OJ get back his memorabilia that was stolen from him. That is justice, and that’s a religious concept, thus the Bible and his righteous proclamation. Read More »