In almost every court in the USA when people are called to the stand to make a statement they must put there hand on a Bible and swear not to lie. Yes there is a law in court where a person can be punished for lying or making false statements, but should the Bible be involved? Should people that do not believe in the Bible still have to swear on it? This should be an option but in most courts a person has to.
I always thought they allowed Jewish people to swear on the Torah or the old testament, and Muslims on the Koran. They don't do that in some courthouses these days?
I thought about this issue the other day, when Naomi Campbell testified against Charles Taylor. She was late (of course) and, while they were waiting, the judge asked her lawyer if she was going to want the Bible or the Qur'an to swear on. But, what if you don't believe? You still have to swear on a book (and a god) you don't believe in? And what if a Christian chooses the Qur'an, then that person could lie because he doesn't believe in it?
I think swearing on a holy book is old-fashioned and unnecessary. You should swear to tell the truth. The end. Not on a book or anything.
Do I have to swear on a Holy Book? I'm an Atheist and that just doesn't seem right to me.
If I have to swear on some sorta book then I'd probably go with something like A Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy or maybe one I'd written myself - perhaps I shall write a book called You Suck under the name of Uri Lidu and swear on that.
If I ever went into court, I would swear on a box of combination pizza rolls . . . .
Anyway, religion is a big part of a lot of people's lives, so I think there should be an option to swear on a holy book if the person is religious. But it shouldn't be mandatory.
The best solution would be to get a Kindle with all the holy books downloaded, so you could just select the appropriate text to swear on.
Maybe atheists could swear on a scientific book such as The Origin of Species or something else along those lines. Anything that disproves a holy book, since that seems to be what atheists believe.
Yes but Atheists =/= scientists - not all Atheists believe in Evolution and so you couldn't select any one book for us to swear on - which is why we should be able to swear on whichever book we like.
If it bothers you that much, that ten seconds of a testifying moment (which you will dread anyways) is that much of an issue, just tell the judge to not force you to. You spend far more energy on that than you would just doing it anyways, but by all means, go ahead.
Or how about you don't swear on a book? For me, swearing on the Torah wouldn't be making an oath to God, because I don't believe in Him, but it would be making an oath to myself and my ancestors, which seems to weigh on me a bit more. But that's just me
Well America was founded on major Cristine values and every president has been cristine. I dont think it should be a option because reguards of your religion even if your athesists there is still that uncertenty about god and may make people tell the truth.
*Sighs* Do you guys not research these things before you post? When testifying, you either swear or affirm. Atheists affirm. They say what they say knowing the penalties of lying.
