From: Anthony Stott <anthony@a...>
Date: Sun Aug 4, 2002 2:00 am
Subject: James Randi Commentary
This is taken from James Randi's website at randi.org
Pretty Interesting Information..
Q: With separation of church and state being such a big legal issue, why
are witnesses still sworn in with a Bible in courtrooms?
- Dan Geiser
A: The First Amendment to the Constitution is supposed to protect religion
and government from each other by forbidding laws that promote a religion
or hinder its private worship. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has a little
junk drawer called "ceremonial deism" in which it keeps religious laws it
likes and protects them from constitutional banishment. These include
Congressional prayers, "In God We Trust" on money and the federal holiday
of Christmas, along with the practice of swearing in witnesses with a Bible
and an oath that ends: "so help me God."
Why are these things considered constitutional while, say, school prayer
isn't? The court says they're more custom than religion and are too minor
to really threaten religious belief. As Steven Epstein pointed out in the
December 1996 Columbia Law Review, this sophistry has led to increasingly
contradictory rulings on such church-state matters as courthouse nativity
displays. Over the past 15 years, court opinions have developed general
principles of ceremonial deism. To qualify, a practice must be: 1)
nonsectarian; 2) voluntary; 3) presented in a manner unlikely to
indoctrinate its audience; 4) deeply rooted in social custom. While the
court has never specifically ruled on Bible swearing, it has noted that the
practice fits these requirements.
It's certainly traditional. Bible swearing dates back to old England, where
only Christians could testify in court — a rule enforced by making
witnesses swear before God and kiss the Bible. In 1848, the South Carolina
Supreme Court noted that Bible swearing was one way in which "we daily
acknowledge Christianity." As late as 1939, five states and the District of
Columbia still excluded testimony of those who didn't believe in God. The
Bible is still used in some Carolina and Philadelphia courts and in many
oaths of office. However, it's falling out of favor in both law and custom.
Religious objectors like Quakers have long been allowed to affirm without a
Bible; they're now joined by increasing numbers of Jews, Muslims, atheists
and others.
In 1961, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a Maryland law requiring
notaries public to swear that they believed in God. In 1991, a federal
appeals court ruled that it was unconstitutional for a judge to compel an
atheist prospective juror to either swear or affirm, since either oath
could be viewed as essentially religious. Today, while mandating that
witnesses swear an oath of some sort, federal and most state rules of
evidence do not require any mention of God.
The Ohio Revised Code merely says "a person may be sworn in any form he
deems binding on his conscience." No Columbus court — from municipal to
federal — uses a Bible, though most still end the oath with "so help me God."
By John Ruch, (c) 1999 CM Media Inc. |
