I Solemnly Swear (Or Affirm, If I Choose): Oaths, Faith, and the Constitution

During the last U.S. national elections, Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell raised a firestorm by asking her opponent, “"Where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state?” Despite the criticism, O’Donnell was right on the facts – those words are not written in the Constitution. However, separation between government and religion is a principle embedded in the Constitution. The phrase “separation of church and state” summarizes the Constitution’s key pronouncements defining the government’s relationship to religion.

Image: National Archives Rotunda; source: Wikimedia

We tend to associate “separation of church and state” with the First Amendment. Adopted in 1791, the First Amendment begins, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” There are two principles at work here. First, the government must not declare a national religion. There may be no national church, privileged over others.  Secondly, the government may not interfere with the peaceable religious observance of any individual or group. In short, government may neither encourage nor discourage religion. Faith is a matter for individual conscience, not government prescription.

The concept of government indifference to religious belief was originally enunciated in the Constitution itself. The Constitution was adopted in 1789, two years before the First Amendment was added to it. The final paragraph of Article VI of the Constitution reads

The Senators and Representatives … the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

How do these words in Article VI commit the government to accept all religious beliefs as equal? By allowing an oath or affirmation, and by prohibiting a religious test, Article VI allows officeholders a full range of personal religious beliefs. Article VI says, in effect, that the government of the United States will neither favor nor disfavor the personal religious beliefs (or lack of beliefs) of its citizens.

Let’s examine the term oath. An oath is commonly understood as a vow made in the presence of God that carries moral weight because it is sacred. Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution specifies that when the president takes office, he or she must say, "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” While not mandatory, most presidents have chosen to add the phrase “So help me God” after the prescribed oath.

Typically, presidents take the oath with their hand on a Bible. However, Theodore Roosevelt did not use a Bible when he took the oath in 1901. John Quincy Adams swore on a book of law. Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in on a Roman Catholic prayer book, the only religious item available on Air Force One after his predecessor was assassinated. By contrast, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Harry S. Truman, and Richard Nixon swore the oath on two Bibles. Clearly, these different practices indicate that taking an oath on a Bible is a personal choice, not a requirement.

At their swearing in, members of Congress, standing as a group, simply raise their hand on the floor of the House and vow to uphold the Constitution. If members wish to repeat the oath on a Bible or other sacred text, they do so in individual private ceremonies. They have done so using the Koran, the Hebrew Tanakh (Old Testament), a Buddhist prayer book, and of course, various Christian Bibles.

Article VI also allows a public servant to pledge loyalty to the Constitution via an affirmation, rather than an oath. An affirmation does not carry theistic implications. Many believing Christians, particularly Quakers, feel conscientiously bound to avoid oaths, based on their understanding of Scripture. When President-elect Franklin Pierce took office in 1852, he used the word affirm rather than swear in his pledge to uphold the Constitution. Pierce was a devout Christian who did not believe in oaths. Nonetheless, his affirmation was no less binding than if he had sworn an oath on a Bible.

By granting permission to affirm rather than swear loyalty to the Constitution, Article VI also makes it possible for atheists, agnostics, Wiccans and polytheists to hold public office. The Constitution simply doesn’t care what an individual believes, so long as he or she is loyal to the United States. As President George Washington told the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island in 1790,

All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship … for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.

The final phrase in Article VI says, “No religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” In an upcoming post, we will examine the history and meaning of the term religious test.

By Michael Feldberg

Executive Director
George Washington Institute for Religious Freedom

Links:

U.S. Constitution, Article VI

Separation of Church and State Questioned by Christine O’Donnell (Washington Post, October 19, 2010)