by David Bowie

Created on: March 26, 2008

No amount of swearing on any object is going to stop someone from lying if that is their intent, as the swearing itself can be a lie. Nor will any amount of swearing prove beyond any doubt to those listening that the one swearing is telling the truth. This is sufficient justification to do away with the need to swear upon anything in a court of law, let alone a Bible.

The United States of America has a reported Christian population of 85%, but worldwide, the Christian population is only 33% according to the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (2006). Of that worldwide population of Christians only 11% of them are Bible-believing Christians (Mission Frontiers). That is a relatively small amount of people that can be assumed to believe that their swearing upon a Bible will bind them to the truth.

Those that are not Bible-believing Christians can not be trusted to tell the truth just because they swore on something they do not fully believe, or even hold in contempt. The act of a non-believer swearing upon a Bible is analogous to a Bible-believer swearing upon a Koran, Mein Kampf, or Everybody Poops . . . that is to say, it is meaningless to them.

For the small percentage of people that are Bible-believing Christians, one would have to assume that the believer would never swear an oath on the Bible and then violate it. To justify that assumption, the person swearing on the Bible could not have ever in their life violated any command in the Bible, and no one falls into that category. At the very least, one would have to assume the person never said anything like, "God, if you do this for me, I'll never do so and so' again," (or something to that effect) and then actually followed through with it. Those are some huge assumptions that simply can not be made. When it is a matter of the truth, one can not assume. Even if a few people do fall into the category, it is unwise for anyone listening to trust that what the person says is the truth simply because they swore on a Bible. So, for believers of the Bible, swearing on it makes no difference in whether or not they will tell the truth.

For non-believers and believers alike it is useless for them to swear on a Bible. In fact, any sort of swearing serves no real purpose. It amounts to nothing more than a superficial ritual because it in itself can not be used as a means to assure that the person will tell the truth, nor can it be used as verification of the truth.

The only way to get some sort of assurance of the truth is to invoke penalties for lying, but even that is not 100% reliable. And the only reliable means to verify the truth is with the use of evidence and additional testimonies, which are requirements in a court of law. One person's testimony is never enough because it can not be trusted beyond doubt. As for swearing into office, how many politicians do you think never lied? Well, they were all sworn in, so swearing of any sort is a useless waste of time.

Learn more about this author, David Bowie.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.