rjb@akgua.UUCP (R.J. Brown [Bob]) (10/02/85)
Swearing and Oaths and all that... [Bob Brown writes] > I will not swear an oath in any court room that I will tell > the truth. [Gary Benson replies] Why not? If you don't believe in god, what difference can it make? In that case, it certainly would not be a moral issue, so why hassle it? If you do believe in god, then it seems like a terrific forum for affirming that belief. If it is because fuzzy thinking results in the equation god = church then maybe you ought to look up some definitions in your Funk & Wagnall's. If it is because you have no intention of telling the truth, then that is a whole nother matter. *** THE MEDIUM IS THE MASSAGE *** -- Gary Benson * [Bob Brown - from the original article] >> >>I assume this is a carry-over from the British legal system >>from which ours basically sprang. I understand that the >>affirmation alternate was a concession to the Quakers of >>early America who would not "swear". I'm not familiar enough >>with Quaker thought and doctrine to know why. (any Quaker takers ?? :-)) >> >>However, if they base their position on the Scripture where both >>Jesus in one of the Gospels and the epistle of >>James 5:12 tell us clearly NOT to swear oaths when we make a >>promise, but to let our yes mean yes and no mean no, then I >>understand. >>. >>. >>I will not swear an oath in any court room that I will tell >>the truth. >>. >>. >> >>Bob Brown {...ihnp4!akgua!rjb} Forgive me Gary, if I didn't make myself clear. I will not swear oaths for the same reason Quakers and others who value the Scriptural teaching on the matter. Jesus says don't swear oaths. His basic reason was that puny little you may not even be here when the time limit is up on your oath and cosmically speaking ...just how powerful are you ??? He was also extremely put out by certain Pharisees who would jive the folks by promising to do something (by taking an oath) and then back out by saying it really didn't count 'cause they swore by something that didn't really matter. As a Christian, I feel motivated to follow his directions not to swear oaths (in court or elsewhere). Did I do better this time ?? Bob Brown {...ihnp4!akgua!rjb}