England to drop swearing on bible in court.

[Minimalist]

Is there an option to swear on the Quran yet?

How about swearing at it?

[freedomfromforum]

Last time I went to court here in the U.S. I heard one man "affirm" to tell the truth, without taking an oath. No bible was present that I could see.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_or_affirmation

[Anomalocaris]

It would be symbolically silly to symbolically balance the weight of an oath on something the oath taker would regard as very light indeed, as an atheist the bible.

[genkaus]

I may be in the minority here, but I find the whole exercise of taking an oath to be pretty pointless. The only good reason I can see to include the oath is that it serves as a verbal contract. The only good reason I see for having someone make an oath on the Bible - or their religion's holy book - is because he'd be less likely to break the contract in that case. This, ofcourse, worked better when almost everyone was religious - not so much today.

If an atheist wants to lie on the stand, then he'd do that - doesn't matter if he swore on the bible or the Harry Potter. If he doesn't then again - the bible is irrelevant.

[Lion IRC]

The bible says we are NOT to make oaths.
(Matthew 5:34)
"...But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all"

[Cato]

The bible says we are NOT to make oaths.
(Matthew 5:34)
"...But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all"

Yet again, an example where believers should go get their story straight before engaging the rest of us.

First, Scripture commands us to swear by the name of God on certain occasions. In Deuteronomy 6:13, for example, Scripture commands God's people "You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him, and swear by His name." Far from prohibiting all oaths, Isaiah tells us that "he who swears in the earth shall swear by the name of God" (Is. 65:16). God sanctions lawful oaths to such an extent that He promises to build up those who swear by His name (Jer. 12:16). Even in the mundane affairs of life, such as confirming the truth between disputing neighbors, God commands His people to swear before Him (Ex. 22:10-11). Because Scripture commands God's people to swear by His name, it cannot forbid all oaths. God does not command what He simultaneously condemns!

More on the subject here:
http://www.reformed.org/webfiles/antithe...oaths.html

[Lion IRC]

The story is straight.

"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."