I’m issuing a fair warning to all of my readers who may be short of time today or are only mildly interested in my latest entry. This may take some time to read, and it may touch on some material that you’re not personally comfortable reading. Religion and religious practices tend to be a volatile subject in this day and age.

This morning, I was listening to my favorite local radio morning show. The two DJ’s were discussing a story they’d recently read, about a local politician who was under some controversy for insisting upon placing his hand on the Koran during his governmental swearing-into-office, instead of the traditional Bible.

The whole topic of discussion amongst the two show hosts was centered around whether it mattered that the politician chose the Koran or Bible or some other symbol to be sworn in by? I began to think about this matter as I drove, and I can see several angles of interpretation over this issue. Being raised as a Christian and knowing that this country was founded by religious people, of whom the majority were Christian in faith, I naturally have somewhat of a biased belief in what I consider to be “proper”.

However, I also realize that as our country has grown, the variety of religious beliefs have also grown. This country may have been founded upon Christianity, but it was also founded in the belief that no person should be discriminated against or refused citizenship based upon their religion.

This means that I believe our politicians, while hopefully keeping this country’s best interests in mind, are personaly influenced by their religious upbringing. Their faith in whomever they see fit to worship can and does influence their behavior when it comes to ethics, morality, compassion and justice. I do not judge nor condemn those who follow the Islamic religion any more than I would judge or condemn those who follow Bhuddism. Christianity teaches the offerings of truth, forgiveness, love and mercy. Nowhere have I ever read where Jesus ever walked into another country and began to oppress the people with threats of violence if they did not conform to His teachings.

Therefore, regardless of my feelings and faith, I must address the root issue in question. Is it proper to “swear in” elected political officials by having them place their hand upon the Christian Bible as a sign of their respect toward what it represents… and make a public promise of integrity and patriotism? Well, let me say this; Personally, I would place my hand upon the Bible and swear to uphold the laws of this country, state, county and city. I would perform this action based solely upon my convictions and faith in both God and the Bible. But as far as my feelings of it being proper for ALL elected officials… I’d have to honestly say no.

Why? Well, we have to break down the whole process and address the reason for a swearing-in, to begin with. Elected officials customarily go through a swearing-in process, which is mainly representational and ceremonious in nature. A celebration of the traditions of our nation through representation of its inhabitants by upstanding, educated, competant individuals is what we intend. Now, whether this can be truly said of the officials we’re forced to choose between in this day and age can be questionable at best. But, be that as it may, the ceremony of publicly promising to perform their duties is a time-honored tradition.

So, why do they incorporate the Bible and God into this ceremony? Simple. In times past, there was a profound respect toward the dominant religious beliefs and practices of this fledgeling nation. Historically, these individuals who came to this land seeking religious freedom were Christian and had a deep-seeded faith in God. Therefore, any office to which an individual was elected also entailed a responsibility to those whom they represented.

A sense of moral and ethical integrity was demanded. And a religious governing of one’s conscience and actions tended to be the most bulletproof aspect by which to base the public’s trust in any official. Thus began the practice of integrating a promise to faithfully serve this country and the elected office with morality, integrity and sound ethics… and insured by a fear of righteous judgement, should the individual fail to keep their promise. And this was represented by a public display of faith in God’s Word….which Christians believe is wholely represented by the Holy Bible.
Now… We’re back to the whole question of whether those who are NOT Christians should be forced to utilize the Bible as a symbol of their comitment to ethics, integrity and morality. Asking non-Christians to do this is no more symbolic than if a Christian were to be asked to place their hand upon a sack of flour as a symbol. So are we truly insuring the individual’s moral and ethical commitment by this practice? Or are we stubbornly clinging to mere traditional procedures in raw respect toward the time-honored traditions of this country?

I have a theoretical solution. Why not “offer” the Bible to those who would choose to let it represent their faith during the taking-of-office? And for those who are not Christian, offer the book or symbol of their faith instead? Better yet… if the procedure needs to be uniform in nature, why not merely offer a folded United States flag to place one’s hand upon? Is the symbol of this country not adequate to represent the individual’s oath of devoted service to it?

At the very core of the issue, I’m not sure what’s “right” or “wrong”. I can only hypothesize about fair practices that we could implement in order to adequately respect the elected official on a person by person basis. It is often times very difficult to sort through our feelings when they are influenced by both our own faith and an innate sense of responsibility to respect the choices of other human beings.

Perhaps I’m incorrect in my assumptions and/or solutions, but I’m no expert. I just jot down my thoughts here. At the very least, it gives my readers something to ponder in quiet times. None of us have all of the answers… but maybe we can figure out a few of them by putting our heads together.

Until next time…. Peace.