by Josh Hostetler

Created on: June 25, 2007

Luckily, at this point in my life, I have not had to participate in a swearing-in ceremony in a court. However, I am quite sure that if I were to have to go to court and defend myself, or testify as a witness in a case, swearing on the Bible would do nothing to change my level of truthfulness.

I am an atheist, and the Bible, while an interesting read, holds no power over my will. Putting my hand on it and swearing to tell the truth can not scare me into doing so, should I choose not to. Luckily for any person I am testifying for, and unluckily to any I may be testifying against, my personal, common-sense-based moral system encourages me to tell the truth as often as possible.

My take on this whole issue is plain and logical:

Using the Bible for swearing-in is a pretty good symbolic gesture, but the only people that are affected by it are people who believe in the Bible, and who supposedly believe that swearing on the Bible, and then telling a lie, is dangerous for their immortal souls.

For the rest of us, it is nothing more than a meaningless gesture. To me, it holds about as much meaning as a tribal rain-dance.

I am not saying that the Bible is meaningless; it has great value to those who believe in it, and, if read critically, it can give great guidance to those of us who do not believe in its divinity. But as far as its power to persuade people to tell the truth, it is useless.

Unfortunately for us, as a society, we are surrounded by people who would seem all too quick to tell a lie to protect themselves. I have personal experience with people like this, many of whom declare on high that they are good Christians. In my personal experience and on the news, I have seen lying cops, parents, politicians, clergy members, and on and on.

I do not believe, with any part of my being, that the use of the Bible in these ceremonies could have any effect on any of these people, and therefore I think its use is simply outdated.

On top of this, there are many people in this country who would actually be offended by its use. I do not think it is in any way fair to subject people of varying faiths and belief systems to these obsolete ceremonial observances.

Perhaps it is time that we, as a people, think critically about what can be done to unify us. We need to have traditions that belong to all of us, and that have equal meaning to everyone.

If we don't start doing this soon, our society is in danger of a complete meltdown, brought by our own bullheaded, arrogant, exclusivist hands.

Learn more about this author, Josh Hostetler.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.