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Sheriff Tells Church Students That God Was Briefer Than the Ohio Revised Code

By Howard M. Friedman

In Weston, Ohio, Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn was invited to be guest speaker at the Church of Christ's Vacation Bible School. His talk, as reported by Friday's Bowling Green (OH) Sentinel-Tribune, raises interesting church-state questions. After talking to the children about safety, the sheriff (apparently in his official uniform) held up a paperback copy of the New Testament and a thick volume of the Ohio Revised Code, telling students that God had been able to do in 10 rules what the state code takes so many more pages to do. He said it would be much simpler if society just had God's 10 rules, so a deputy could pull a driver over and inform him or her which of the commandments he or she had broken. The sheriff gave each child a plastic badge and offered them a copy of the New Testament furnished by the church. [Thanks to Tom Klein for the lead.]

Full post as published by Religion Clause on June 21, 2008 (boomark / email).