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Separation of what?

I was just looking at a photo on USA Today, and it raised a question for me:

Why do elected officials, most especially the POTUS swear on a bible to uphold the Oath of Office? I think they should swear on the Constitution. How is this separation of church and state?

So help you g-d? Pfft, so help you the angry masses if you screw up.

Tags: Separation, and, church, of, state

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Permalink Reply by Tim on January 15, 2013 at 4:47pm

exactly!! I agree.. But then for a person like me I will swear on the bible all day long.. Like taking an oath over the lord of the rings to me. Its all for show anyway

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Permalink Reply by Greg on January 15, 2013 at 5:34pm

A couple of issues here...

First, swearing on the bible originally meant the POTUS pledged before god to perform the office, as indicated in the oath. This was somehow supposed to carry some weight, as it was expected that a true christian would not accept the oath with the wrath of god hanging over their head. Similar to what takes place in court on the stand. Simple stuff to understand, even if it makes no sense.

I think this is a archaic practice that should be done away with too. Anyone can fake an oath. If there are no repercussions for intentionally failing to fulfill the duty of POTUS then what exactly is the point? Maybe we should just have them sign a contract agreeing to fulfill those duties.

Putting your hand on the constitution makes no sense to me either. Why would you want someone to put their hand on the constitution and have them recite a pledge promising to uphold the constitution? It's all for show so why bother with that. Just have a contract signing. We could model it after all the terms of use agreements Apple has. It could be electronic where you just click on a box agreeing you've read it and agree to it's terms. It could also be a couple hundred pages long so that nobody would ever read it before agreeing to it. That way congress could slip comical terms in for which the president could be impeached at the drop of a hat for non-compliance. As an example, they might unknowingly agree to wear a thong and tiara every thursday. This could be modified should a female be elected as POTUS.

Actually, we as a country, enjoy dignified pageantry when a POTUS takes office. We like to see the POTUS appear to take this stuff seriously. It makes us feel as if they're beginning the path towards doing something important. After all, when it's someone else taking the oath of office, it doesn't make any difference what we believe. We've already elected them so we want THEM to take the oath seriously. What they do after taking that oath? That's another discussion.

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Permalink Reply by Mathew T. on January 15, 2013 at 6:03pm

Interesting post. Where I am in Canada, and to the best of my knowledge, there's no such posturing when a politician is sworn in. I think the basic assumption is that a person's nationalism is enough to guilt them into not lying under oath (as if that's a legitimate expectation haha).

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Permalink Reply by Laars Zwarte on January 15, 2013 at 6:42pm

The pageantry is appalling. We have millions to spend on Secret Service among other things for that? Heck NO. People need jobs, Social Security needs funding, and how long before Bush 1 dies and we hold a big fat funeral funded by the taxpayers. Ohhhh kayyyyy. Do you suppose Beyonce is singing for free?

Swearing to uphold a moral contract is a great idea.

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Permalink Reply by Greg on January 15, 2013 at 8:00pm

Laars,

So we agree Bush must not die for financial reasons. Wait, he's pulling in a pretty hefty pension. ;-)

Actually, you're right about the expense of all these ceremonies and celebrations. I'd really like to support Obama in many things but he seems to have no idea the value of money. Politicians spending taxpayer money by the truckload so they can somehow convince us they're worth having as leaders? Maybe it's all designed to take our mind of more serious issues. It sounds like something Zaphod Beeblebrox might try.

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Permalink Reply by Laars Zwarte on January 15, 2013 at 9:34pm

Nooo, I do not wish death on him. He's not been well of late, and having recall of Reagan's elaborate funeral. It's the hypocrisy of waste that gets me. I wish President Obama had departed from a traditional inauguration, and honestly a second term should not warrant it anyway. That would have spoken volumes in and of itself.