Raise your right hand...or left hand... or one of your hands anyway and repeat after me...
Dan Brawner
January 25, 2007
As Iowa’s new governor, Chet Culver took the oath of office this month, he raised his left hand instead of the traditional right hand, an action which immediately set off alarm bells. What did this mean? Was it a sign of things to come from this left-leaning Democrat? Was it the equivalent of crossing your fingers while you promise to tell the truth? And what effect does it have to swear with your right hand on the Bible?
At least Keith Ellison, the new congressman from Minnesota swore the oath of office raising his right hand while he laid his traditional left hand on the good book. Of course, in this case, the good book was the Quran. Ellison, born and raised in the US is the first Muslim ever elected to Congress. And, as a Muslim, he insisted on swearing his allegiance to uphold the Constitution with his hand on his chosen holy book. This sparked outrage from numerous sources, notably, author and talk show host Dennis Prager, who warned that Ellison’s action “will embolden Islamic extremists and make new ones….”
What’s next? Will Jewish jurors ask to place their hands on the Talmud? Will Mormons wish to swear by the Book of Mormon? Will agnostics be allowed to swear by Darwin’s The Origen of the Species or by The New York Times Cook Book? Where will it end?
But maybe Ellison insisted on swearing by the Quran because he takes the oath seriously. Aside from its ceremonial aspects, an oath is nothing but a feeble reminder to tell the truth because nobody really knows whether or not you’re lying through your teeth. If authorities could read minds, the practice of administering oaths would vanish like water on a hot stove.
Most oaths don’t make much sense anyway: “I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth—so help me, God.” This is grammatically confusing, theologically inconsistent and it’s mortally impossible to tell the whole truth—whatever that is anyway. And if we’re talking about the Bible, it warns us not to swear oaths of any kind except to God. Ultimately we’re all on the honor system, so if Mr. Ellison wants to swear on the Quran, more power to him.
Atheist activist Michael Newdow filed a complaint and an unsuccessful legal motion in 1991 to remove “all Christian religious acts” from presidential inaugurations, arguing that it violates the First Amendment. Every president since George Washington has sworn the oath with his hand on a Bible. The one exception was Teddy Roosevelt. Newdow is a doctor and a lawyer from Sacramento, a Spanish name meaning “most holy sacrament”.
But this brings us back to which hand to raise and which hand to lay on the Bible-- or the Quran or whatever. It’s hard to know exactly what God prefers so I thought I would defer to the one unassailable authority on the subject. Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel painting clearly shows God reaching out to Adam with his right hand. Adam, in turn, is reaching to God with his left hand. Therefore, if we imitate Adam, we ought to place our left hand on the Bible. But then again, Adam is naked. So maybe we shouldn’t really go by that.
At least Keith Ellison, the new congressman from Minnesota swore the oath of office raising his right hand while he laid his traditional left hand on the good book. Of course, in this case, the good book was the Quran. Ellison, born and raised in the US is the first Muslim ever elected to Congress. And, as a Muslim, he insisted on swearing his allegiance to uphold the Constitution with his hand on his chosen holy book. This sparked outrage from numerous sources, notably, author and talk show host Dennis Prager, who warned that Ellison’s action “will embolden Islamic extremists and make new ones….”
What’s next? Will Jewish jurors ask to place their hands on the Talmud? Will Mormons wish to swear by the Book of Mormon? Will agnostics be allowed to swear by Darwin’s The Origen of the Species or by The New York Times Cook Book? Where will it end?
But maybe Ellison insisted on swearing by the Quran because he takes the oath seriously. Aside from its ceremonial aspects, an oath is nothing but a feeble reminder to tell the truth because nobody really knows whether or not you’re lying through your teeth. If authorities could read minds, the practice of administering oaths would vanish like water on a hot stove.
Most oaths don’t make much sense anyway: “I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth—so help me, God.” This is grammatically confusing, theologically inconsistent and it’s mortally impossible to tell the whole truth—whatever that is anyway. And if we’re talking about the Bible, it warns us not to swear oaths of any kind except to God. Ultimately we’re all on the honor system, so if Mr. Ellison wants to swear on the Quran, more power to him.
Atheist activist Michael Newdow filed a complaint and an unsuccessful legal motion in 1991 to remove “all Christian religious acts” from presidential inaugurations, arguing that it violates the First Amendment. Every president since George Washington has sworn the oath with his hand on a Bible. The one exception was Teddy Roosevelt. Newdow is a doctor and a lawyer from Sacramento, a Spanish name meaning “most holy sacrament”.
But this brings us back to which hand to raise and which hand to lay on the Bible-- or the Quran or whatever. It’s hard to know exactly what God prefers so I thought I would defer to the one unassailable authority on the subject. Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel painting clearly shows God reaching out to Adam with his right hand. Adam, in turn, is reaching to God with his left hand. Therefore, if we imitate Adam, we ought to place our left hand on the Bible. But then again, Adam is naked. So maybe we shouldn’t really go by that.