Sorry, I just can't swear to that...

[(Q)]

You are called to jury duty and are in the process of being interviewed and are asked to raise your right hand and “Swear to Almighty God that you will follow and uphold the law as directed by the Courts”.

If you don't believe in gods, what will you say?

If you don't believe in gods and swear anyway, would you be perjuring yourself?

Or would you rather be given the chance to swear to something else more along the lines of your particular set of morals and ethics?

Do you think you would be chosen for jury duty solely on the grounds of your disbelief?

 

[§outh§tar]

"God" is the standard for truth.

Whatever you hold as a standard for truth is what you swear by, not someone else's belief about what God is.

 

[spidergoat]

Jesus said don't take oaths, let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no.

 

[(Q)]

"God" is the standard for truth.

Not in my books. I would equate the notion of gods to invisible pink unicorns, in other words, something conjured from the imagination. Swearing to gods would only gain credibility to other believers, hence my questions above.

 

[§outh§tar]

Jesus said don't take oaths, let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no.

I felt a strong urge to add that but I feared everyone would come in and bash me for being religious or something.

True, there is no need for oaths. If you need to take an oath in order to tell the truth then you have a condition, one of the manias that has to do with lying anyway and therefore your oath is invalid.

Courts simply hold your integrity in contempt by encouraging oaths. God is not mocked.

 

[SkippingStones]

This was a big issue in some Christian circles when it first started appearing in court or wherever. Many Christians, Mennonites especially, used the words "I affirm" instead of "I swear" and that was accepted.

 

[§outh§tar]

Well, logically speaking, we have no right to swear by God's name whatsoever.


But I think there is no need to use "I affirm" or "I swear".

If the court does not think you are going to be honest, then there is no need for you to be on the stand. No sound rationale will tell you that just because a person says "i affirm" or "I swear", they are going to be truthful. Integrity is mandatory with or without oaths.