I have never read the book you referenced. However, I did study law, and practice law. Any first year law student will tell you that not only is our system of law based upon English Common Law (with the exception of Louisiana, which relies upon the napoleanic code), We have gravitated toward a property based legal system even more than the original common law.

The Constitution was written with a great deal of attention paid to property rights. Governments historically have been created to ascertain property rights. Look at history, and tell me what major areas of US history don't revolve around issues of propety. Slavery, the Indians, western expansion, old west battles etc.

Law played very little part in the social aspects of life (including religion) until the last 60 years. One could argue that the conflicts we face today are a result of moving away from a social based set of standards. We are one big world rather than a series of interconnected small towns.

It used to be that news from a town only a hundred miles away was the most exciting thing. Everybody followed an unwritten code of behavior, that if violated would result in community punishment.

An easy example of this is this BB. If someone crosses a line, everyone comes out of the wood work. We have a series of commonly accepted behaviors and as long as those mores are respected, almost anything else goes. There is something to be said for that type of system.

As the world became more homogenous, greater opportunities to move outside the standard became available. We also became more concerned with what happened behind closed doors (for some good reasons and some bad).

I think this is even farther afield, sorry.

The Bible has played a minor, at best, role in the creation of our current legal system. Most of that occurred in the last 50-100 years. Laws involving prostitution, Drugs, gambling, etc (vices abound), all have been criminalized primarily in the past century. The largest influx of religious furor into law was the 18th amend.

As to your point about views conflicting with law, it is a valid point, but your initial post suggested to me, a belief that law and morality are inter-related. While clearly the law, as it exists, and has been since the Battle of Hastings, conflicts with the most basic of Christian teachings.

Man I can rant with the best of them. Have a good day.