The Bosque Boys

07/12: Swearing In, Bibles, Keith Ellison

I have problems with Keith Ellison, but they are unrelated to his plans to take the oath of office on a Quran. See Powerline and look for all the posts in the archives on Ellison and you'll understand my discomfort with him.

A bit of perspective on swearing-in on Bibles from the Pew Forum. According to this article, Ellison will not be the first to forgo a Bible for his swearing-in. John Quincy Adams used a "law volume," and Theodore Roosevelt used no Bible in his first swearing-in.

Swearing on a Bible is a time-honored custom, but I think that reasonable people can have objections.

My bad. I did not reason this issue all the way through. Ellison will become a member of the House. Those folks (see the linked article) do a mass swearing in without any Holy Book. They have an option to stage a "swearing-in" later that is merely a photo-op with the flag, Bible, etc. Ellison will not be sworn in with his hand on the Quran. He'll have his after-the-fact photo-op with a Quran. Sorry, busy busy week.

Comments

A Waco Farmer wrote:

What about the Constitutional option to simply "affirm" rather than take an oath? This was conceived as a Quaker option? Am I right on that? Do you have any idea how common affirming is/was?

07/12 12:04:07

A Waco Farmer wrote:

Okay. Sorry about that. Next time I will read the article before commenting. There they are: all the answers to my questions...

07/12 13:37:45

Tocqueville wrote:

In the legal arena, I believe an "oath" encompasses swearing and affirming. For example, the typical oath begins "Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, . . . etc."

07/12 14:09:17

Tocqueville wrote:

What are we to make of prohibitions like these?

Matthew 5:34-37 "But I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by heaven . . . nor by the earth . . . . Neither shalt thou swear by thy head . . . . But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."

James 5:12 ". . . swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation."

07/12 15:13:26

A Waco Farmer wrote:

Thanks for the clean-up on the swearing an oath versus affirming an oath. Tocqueville makes the crucial point that both are oaths.

In re the Biblical injunction:

Do you interpret this passage to mean that any oath is anti-biblical (affirmed or sworn--on a Bible or a law book)?

08/12 09:59:14

an okie gardener wrote:

The Scripture cited above is the reason some Christians will not take oaths, but simply will affirm. In my tradition (Reformed) we will take oaths, as explained by the Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 101:
Q "But may we swear an oath in God's name if we do it reverently?" A "Yes, when the government demands it, or when necessity requires it, in order to maintain and promote truth and trustworthiness for God's glory and our neighbor's good. Such oaths are approved in God's Word and were rightly used by Old and New Testament believers." Scriptures cited for support in the catechism are Deut. 6:13; Deut 10:20; Jer 4:1,2; Heb 6:16; Gen 21:24; Josh 9:15; 1 Kings 1:29, 30; Rom 1:9; 2 Cor 1:23.

08/12 12:36:30

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07/12: Swearing In, Bibles, Keith Ellison

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A Waco Farmer wrote:

A Waco Farmer wrote:

Tocqueville wrote:

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an okie gardener wrote:

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