Submitted by Jason Pappas, Dec 6, 2006 13:50

If he can't take an oath on the Bible, I suggest he take an affirmation, as you noted. The traditional ceremony is with the Bible. We can argue the reasons and whether or not we'd construct the ceremony in this manner today but let's maintain the tradition as it is.

I object, however, to the use of political books like Mein Kampf, Das Kapital, and the Koran. The oath is to the constitution and not other political principles embodied in alien documents. Islam is incompatible with the principles in our constitution but our constitution allows Muslims and communists to serve in Congress. Let them; however, use an affirmation if they wish to avoid the traditional oath.

Our founding fathers were deists, for the most part, who based their ideas on the Enlightenment and Roman Stoicism. We're a Greco-Roman civilization. I'm not religious and would prefer an affirmation. That's the option the founding fathers created to avoid the problem with oaths. There's no problem: use the Bible or take an affirmation.

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