Swear

I Swear

A lot of people are swearing these days. When you raise your right hand, does it matter where your left hand is? The right hand should always know what the left hand is doing. This week a congressman raised his right hand and placed his left hand on the Koran as he swore. Does it matter? A “Liberal” would say it does not matter. It matters.

If, by liberal, you mean generous, Jesus was a liberal. I hope I am also. But just as “gay” no longer means “happy,” liberal, today, means something different than it used to. A liberal is someone who thinks one book is just as good as another. A liberal may swear on a Bible, the Book of Mormon, or the Koran and think it’s all the same. He thinks they are merely man’s codified opinions. The Majority leader is a Mormon. Most think that does not matter either. Again, it matters.

Jesus was neither a liberal nor a conservative. If you ascribe to either of these labels (Liberal or Conservative), I have just offended you. Sorry. When Jesus walked this earth He had to negotiate His way through the labyrinth of lies, wrong spirits and philosophies. The Pharisee and the Sadducee, alike, pressed Him to endorse their “conservative” or “liberal” view of various passages of Scripture. They wanted His opinion. The problem is He holds more than an opinion. He is the Word itself. He is the Truth. He is the first and the final word. He is God incarnate. He said “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no man comes to the Father but by me.” That’s Conclusive, Inclusive, and Exclusive.

I do not want to prohibit anyone from swearing on the Koran, the Yellow Pages, or the Readers Digest if that is what they want to do. Choice is as important as voice when it comes to liberty. Calling swearing on the Bible an American "Tradition" will not help us.

Most Americans claim to be Christians (remember how the meaning of words has changed?). Some are as “loose” with the word “Christian” as others are with the word “liberal.” Many who claim to be “conservative” would not pass the litmus test. Take a scientific poll or play Family-Feud. Ask a thousand people down at the shopping mall or football stadium (on any given Sunday) , if they would rather swear on a Bible or a Koran. I have no doubt that the most popular answer in the survey would be (ding, ding) “the Bible.” But also ask those same people to “raise their hand” only if they picked one up and “read it” that morning . The numbers would fall faster than Enron stock. The problem in America can’t be blamed on the Muslims or the Liberals. The problem is that those who say they believe the Bible don’t “do” what the Bible says. Ask people to raise their right hand if they laid their hand on the Bible today. “Laid my hand on my Bible today?” most would repeat. “Why,” they would continue while scratching their head, “I don’t even know where it is.” That’s the truth, like it or not, but don’t ask me to swear on a stack of Bibles.

- id