Originally posted by Grampy Bobby
[b]Just wondering...
When an atheist goes to court, does he or she have to swear on the Bible?
😉[/b]
In the UK as stated [before in this thread] you have a choice of several options, you can swear on the bible,
you can swear on another holy book (say Koran), or you can simply affirm....
It should be noted that the right not to have to swear on a bible to god was hard fought for
by secularists against the protestations of Christians... Which I don't really understand as
atheists don't believe in god and thus have to lie to swear by god which makes the whole thing
pointless.
It might [also] be noted at this point that people of a highly religious persuasion, particularly Muslim,
often choose to affirm rather than swear on the Koran/other holy book... It has been speculated
that this is because they know that they are about to lie their heads off...
However I couldn't possibly comment on such speculation...
Likewise when MP's are sworn in to the house when elected they have a choice as to whether
they want to affirm or swear on the bible.
As for your delight that politicians in your country do swear by almighty god, I would remind you that
your country was founded as a secular nation, with separation of church and state in the constitution,
and that requiring politicians to be, or look to be, religious is just asking to be lied to, and is both discriminatory
against other faiths and secularists in your country as well as being in flagrant disregard on your own
founding constitution.
Consider how you would feel if your next president swore to Allah with his hand on a Koran to get an idea
of how secularists (of which there are more than you think) and theists from other religions feel every time
someone takes office swearing to the Christian god.