Have you ever noticed that every single U.S. president is Christian? Now we have a black president, sure that's a start. But we need to diversify! When people are not exposed to different people things like the KKK happen. I think we should have backrounds in office.
I would have thought being a Christian was a prerequisite for being President being that the person taking on the job has to swear on a Bible in order to take office?
Okay, but currently the incoming President raises his right hand and places his left hand on the Bible. If he doesn't believe in God or the Bible, then his oath is in fact a lie.
The process of taking the oath of office means that only Christians need apply doesn't it?
And it's background. Sorry, not meaning to highlight it for any other reason than to highlight the correct spelling. Can't help myself.
currently the incoming President raises his right hand and places his left hand on the Bible
The Bible isn't required, nor are the words 'so help me God' at the end. It's just traditional and makes the Christian community (70% of the population) more supportive.
The Bible isn't required, nor are the words 'so help me God' at the end. It's just traditional and makes the Christian community (70% of the population) more supportive.
Why has every President done it then? If it is tradition rather than obligation, why has one President out of the 44 not decided to forgo the oath?
I would have thought being a Christian was a prerequisite for being President being that the person taking on the job has to swear on a Bible in order to take office?
Not necessarily. If you're not a Christian and you take office, you can affirm like what atheists do when they're testifying in court.
John F. Kennedy was technically a Roman Catholic, not a Christian(nitpicking, I know). And a bunch of the early presidents were Quakers and Deists.
Haven't heard of what atheists do in court... how does that work? I thought it was obligatory to swear on the Bible?
When atheists-or actually, anyone who wants to-are testifying in court, obviously swearing on the Bible would be useless, so they just hold up their hand and promise to tell the truth. It's called affirming, or swearing. When a witness is affirming instead of swearing on the Bible, the judge will say "upon pain or penalty of perjury" at the end instead of "so help you God". Of course, the American justice system doesn't rely solely on the honor code. If a person lies in court after having sworn to tell the truth, they are guilty of perjury no matter what they believe in, and can be sent to prison for 5 years or fined. I'm not sure how much the fine is, but you get the point.
Saw a few mistakes in my earlier post, wanted to clarify.
they are guilty of perjury no matter what they believe in,
Believe in religiously. If you believe something to be true even if it is a lie, then you are not guilty of perjury. This makes perjury charges difficult to prove.
and can be sent to prison for 5 years or fined.
*Sent to prison for a maximum of 5 years. But usually they're released from jail before then.
