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America's founders acutely were aware of the importance of religious freedom. The first colonists, the Pilgrims, members of a Christian sect, migrated to North America to escape religious persecution in England, many sacrificing their lives. Waves of others seeking religious freedom followed, people from many different countries and creeds. Making religion a requirement of public service was unthinkable and illegal from the first days of the republic.

The first bill passed by Congress in 1789 was the Oath Act, which defined a simple oath of office: "I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States." The oath was expanded after the Civil War to include a loyalty clause. Today, members of Congress, as a group, raise their right hands to affirm the oath of office while the speaker of the House administers it. No book of scripture is necessary. Those who wish may have a separate oath-taking ceremony on their book of choice, and some commemorate the moment in a photo.

Because America has been predominantly Christian, its became customary, but not mandatory, for U.S. presidents and other public officers to carry or place their hand on the Bible while taking the oath of office. Fiercely secular, John Quincy Adams took his oath on a book of laws containing the U.S. Constitution. Theodore Roosevelt used no book at all. Franklin Pierce and Herbert Hoover, a Quaker, did not swear but affirmed the oath of office. Jewish office-holders have brought Hebrew texts, while others acknowledge the Bible's Old Testament as part of Jewish scripture and settle for that. President John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, placed his hand on the Catholic Douay Version of the Bible.

Learn more about this author, Grace Olivia Nordberg.
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