As to the hubbub about so help me God in the USAF Academys oath: the clause shouldnt have been there in the first place. See Article VI of the Constitution, which says there will be no religious tests for federal offices; also see James Madisons Detached Memoranda online. A religious oath requirement was precisely the kind of religious test that was used in Britain when the Constitution was ratified and had been common in the North American colonies. Its the kind the constitutional provision was intended to prohibit. Besides the violation of our religious freedom, oaths also fail on the ground that they have no practical purpose. As Thomas Jefferson said in the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, an oath cant make anyone religious; it can only make him a liar or a non-participant. The superiority of our American system of religious freedom is evident in every days news. Lets keep it.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 22:00:37 +0000