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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (59083)	10/14/1999 1:43:00 AM
From: greenspirit	Respond to of 108807

And that's a reasonable solution. Instead of banning the Bible (through federal law) from every courthouse, the way some here would probably insist is the only right answer. Michael

To: Ilaine who wrote (59083)	10/14/1999 2:01:00 PM
From: nihil	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

The affirmation is specified in the Constitution as an alternative to the oath. I read somewhere, and I believe, that no animadversion can be made on the fact that a witness makes an affirmation rather than an oath. This was important because many earnest Christians at the time thought that Jesus had ordered them not to swear oaths (according to Matthew). The constitutional convention added affirmation in the Constitutional oath with little discussion, and Pinkney moved to add "but no religious test shall ever be required to any office or public trust under the authority of the U. States." This seems to me to assure a totally secular government. Interestingly, Roger Sherman, thought by some on this thread to be a promoter of Christianity , opposed this as "unnecessary, the prevailing liberality being a sufficient security against such tests." Reading through Madison's notes makes it quite clear that there was nothing that smacked of religion involved in the Constitution. In fact, the omission of specific religious neutrality in the document led to the free exercise and establishment clauses in the First Amendment. It is quite clear to me, that the mass of the delegates didn't believe that Christianity had any place in government, or that the federal government should intervene in any way in the various States' religious dispositions. Many of the Constitutional delegates were opposed to religious-government connections in their states. Madison was one of the most opposed in Virginia and played a major role in eliminating establishment in Virginia.