If America was founded on the principle: seperation of church and state (gov't). Why do we take oath on bible?

Question

I'm not going against it, or saying it's wrong, just seeking to understand where it came from?

Answer 1

Actually it was not, if you look at the Constitution no menction is made of the "separation of Church and State", the idea was to prevent the government from backing or organizing a church over any of the others.

Answer 2

Who said America was founded on the principle: separation of church and state?
( Please follow the link below to get a better idea of this highly misunderstood topic )

The USA was founded on the principles of Individual Freedom and the Pursuit of Happiness. The founding of our society on this land was the result of Christians seeking the freedom to worship God in any way they chose to instead of how the King of England told them they had to worship. The purpose of the statement "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . " in the First Amendment was to prevent Congess from ever making any laws telling any of us how we could or could not worship God. The fact that we do take an oath on the bible is proof that society historically has accepted that God is real and is alive and is holding us accountable for keeping these oaths.

Answer 3

You have to go back on time. The separation of church and state has nothing to do with removing all religious ceremony, symbolism, or reference. It is related to official support of any single religion or creating an official state religion.

Its a good question. A number of the swearing in ceremonies done in congress are not "official" meaning they have nothing to do with holding the office, so of course you can set those aside. And the Bible was considered a symbol of truth and honor, so someone swearing on it does not have to be Christian. It is funny, if I were called as court witness in Turkey or Indonisia, I would have no problem swearing to tell the truth on the Koran. I don't have to be Muslim to understand the symbolic importance of the book. And you can not just waive off the historic and cultural importance of the concept.

This country was founded by Christians seeking to flee religious persecution, and the concepts they embraced were so radical and even TODAY most counties do not even come close to allowing a small fraction of the religious freedom and tolerance that exists here.

Answer 4

America was NOT founded upon the notion of separation of church and state, although Thomas Jefferson did advocate that. If you read the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution and the Preamble, you will realize that the founders were very religious and unlike many modern day "religious" people, they practiced what they preached. Where this modern idea of separation of church and state came from is ONE woman who said her rights were being denied. She made such a fuss that others of her kind were aroused and demanded separation of church and state. This woman later recanted her views, but her original denial of God continued.
We take our oath on the Bible because, in the English tradition, it had the effect of saying, "I am telling the truth, if I lie, I will burn in Hell." Similar oaths were swearing on one's mother's grave; and swearing an oath upon their child (usally son).
The atheists and the liberals don't want to admit it, but the practice of separation of church and state is a denial of one's Constitutional rights. Read the Constitution. It is NOT written for judges and lawyers; it was written for the common, everyday average educated American at the time of the Revolution.

Answer 5

The concept of "Separation of Church and State" as laid out in the Constitution states that the government shall not impose a religion upon it's citizens. Our government is of the people and by the people. When we the people vote in a person that has a religious belief they carry it with them to office, which is fine because the government cannot tell them what they can and cannot believe and laid out by the constitution.

The Tradition of swearing on the bible is just that, a Tradition. To my knowledge there is no law that states you MUST place your hand on a bible to be sworn in. There are many courts in our land that do not do this. It all stims back to our founding as a nation when the bible and it's teaching were still a scared teaching.

Answer 6

The Constitution forbids the govt. from passing laws respecting religion, 'respecting' meaning 'regarding' in this case.

The govt. can't pass a law preventing taking the oath on the Bible. Such a law would 'regard religion'.

"Here is the bottom line - If you vote a Christian into office, you shouldn't be surprised if he writes a law banning abortion and gay marriage. Is this legal? OF COURSE".

The preceding statement is inaccurate. Politicians can't pass a law respecting religion. The bill would need to be justified on a nonreligious basis, or it would be struck down by the Supreme Court.

Answer 7

"Separation of Church and State" is the most abused and misused phrase in all of American government. First of all it is not written anywhere in the Constitution. Second of all, the first amendment guarantees that the US government will not be able to endorse any religion. Why not just live by the 1st Amendment?

Here is the bottom line - If you vote a Christian into office, you shouldn't be surprised if he writes a law banning abortion and gay marriage. Is this legal? OF COURSE. If you don't like it, elect an Atheist or non-religious person. You can't elect someone and then tell them they can't do what they want to do because it follows their religious background. All that it is religious PHOBIA.

Answer 8

Separation of church & state is NOT in the Constitution. There is no established religion nor is atheism established. Office holders can take the oath however they want.

Answer 9

the oaths of office are taken on the bible only during public ceremony and is a tradition, not a requirement. the actual formal oaths of office are done without a bible. And, I believe it was a congressman who took his ceremonial oath on the koran this last election

Answer 10

Good question. I don't believe you have to swear on a bible if you don't want to. Jews and Christians won't mind but Muslims will. They prefer to use their Koran. Separation of Church and state? I don't think so. Not entirely anyway.