The Bible in American Law and Politics. John R. Vile
Episcopal Church 17 (December): 339–44.
Davis, Jefferson. 1862. “A Veto Message from Jeff. Davis.” New York Times Archives. October 26.
Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861–1865 (vol. 2). Reprint by Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2009.
Rable, George C. 2010. God’s Almost Chosen Peoples: A Religious History of the American Civil War. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Stephens, Alexander H. 1861. “Cornerstone Speech.” American Rhetoric Online Speech Bank. March 21. https://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/alexanderstephenscornerstone.htm.
Stout, Harry S. n.d. “Religion in the Civil War: The Southern Perspective.” TeacherServe. https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nineteen/nkeyinfo/cwsouth.htm. Accessed May 24, 2019.
Vile, John R., ed. 2018. The Civil War and Reconstruction Eras: Documents Decoded. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
Congressional Oaths of Office
Although it is common for members of Congress, and other public offices, to take their oaths on the Bible, this is not required by the U.S. Constitution, which specifically prohibits religious tests for office, and individual members sometimes choose other documents.
This was particularly evident in the 116th congressional class that was inaugurated in 2019. Amanda Jackson reports, “More than a dozen documents and books—including the US Constitution, Eastern Orthodox Bible and Quran—were used to swear in officials of various ethnic and religious backgrounds” (2019).
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Two Muslim members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Ilham Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, both swore on the Koran. The former used a Koran that belonged to her grandfather, and the latter used a translation from 1734 that Thomas Jefferson had owned.
Senator Martha McSally of Arizona, a former combat pilot in the Air Force, swore on a Bible recovered from a sailor who was aboard the USS Arizona when it was attacked at Pearl Harbor. Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona swore upon copies of the U.S. and Arizona Constitutions, and Senator Mitt Romney of Utah swore on a Bible that his father, a former Michigan governor, had used; he also followed his precedent of adding a special inscription (Schallhorn 2019).
Recent years have witnessed kerfuffles over whether the oath should be administered with or without the words “So help me God” (Edmondson 2019).
See also Bible Signings; Presidential Inaugural Bible Verses
For Reference and Further Reading
Edmondson, Catie. 2019. “‘So Help Me God’ No More: Democrats Give House Traditions a Makeover.” New York Times . May 11.
Jackson, Amanda. 2019. “Muslim and Jewish Holy Books among Many Used to Swear-in Congress.” CNN. January 3. https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/03/us/congress-swear-in-religious-books-trnd/index.html.
Schallhorn, Kaitlyn. 2019. “New Lawmakers Used Historical Texts, Family Heirlooms during Swearing-In Ceremonies.” Fox News. January 4. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-lawmakers-used-historical-texts-family-heirlooms-during-swearing-in-ceremonies.
Congressional Resolution on the Ten Commandments (1997)
The Ten Commandments as recorded in Exodus 20 are among the most recognizable sets of ancient laws and are widely accepted as a solid basis for ethical behavior. According to biblical accounts, Moses received the commandments from God at Mount Sinai, and they subsequently became the basis whereby the Hebrew people established a covenant between themselves and God. Although the first part of the Commandments deals chiefly with human obligations to God, the second part deals primarily with relations among individuals. The Puritans who settled in America were especially interested in the Ten Commandments and attempted to model many of their laws on these commandments and their subsequent adumbrations.
Because the Commandments detail relationships to God that are beyond the scope of the government created under the U.S. Constitution (the First Amendment of which prohibits the “establishment” of religion), questions have arisen concerning their placement in governmental buildings. Some judicial decisions have permitted displays of the Commandments when surrounded by other documents, whereas others have generally ruled that standing alone, they give undue preference to Judeo-Christian understandings.
Judge Roy S. Moore of Alabama has been involved in a number of controversies over displays of the Ten Commandments, including a dispute in which an Alabama circuit judge ordered him to remove a copy from his courtroom. As the Alabama Supreme Court (on which he would later serve) issued a stay of this order, the U.S. Congress adopted a resolution supporting his display. Perhaps 128seeking to support the argument that such displays had a clear secular legislative purpose (one of the three prongs of the Lemon Test that the U.S. Supreme Court often employs to resolve such matters), Congress was intent on supporting arguments that the Ten Commandments were a major source of U.S. law.
In its resolution, Congress accordingly stated both that “the Ten Commandments have had a significant impact on the development of the fundamental principles of Western Civilization” and that they “set forth a code of moral conduct, observance of which is universally acknowledged to promote respect for our system of laws and the good of society.” Having highlighted such influences, Congress further resolved that:
1 The Ten Commandments are a declaration of fundamental principles that are the cornerstones of a fair and just society; and
2 The public display, including display in government offices and courthouses, of the Ten Commandments should be permitted.
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