It happened twice.
The speaker asked the people gathered to raise their right hand and swear an oath:
I do solemnly swear that I, no matter how I feel, no matter what the conditions, if there are hurricanes or whatever, will vote on or before the 12th for Donald J. Trump for President.”
No Christian should have been able to say this oath.
Why? It lacks what is in our Pledge of Allegiance: “under God.” I can vow service to my country, but in the end I must “obey God rather than man.”
If Roman Christians had been willing to throw a few cents worth of incense into a fire to the genius of the Emperor, they could have escaped persecution. Many would not and some died.
Many Russian Christians could adopt a new economic system, often enthusiastically. They did not mind being communists, but they would not become atheists. These Christians would not give final loyalty to the state.
Why worry about this silly oath?
I worry, because in fifty-two years of supporting candidates, no candidate has asked me to a giant rally to swear to vote for him. You don’t have to think hard to recall creepy historical antecedents. Nobody does this trick. Why does Donald J. Trump?
Why should a man putting little of his own money into a campaign, but eager to sell branded clothing to all his voters, also decide on mass rallies and oaths? Is he just trolling those of us who read history to get us to over react?
Maybe I am falling for his clever scheme, but sometimes a “joke” is just another way of being evil. Proverbs says:
Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death
is the man who deceives his neighbor
and says, “I am only joking!”
Some jokes are the problem. If you throw insults, mocking the handicapped and demonizing the less powerful, and then you say you are “only joking,” you are a madman. When a madman asks for an oath of loyalty, then you should worry.
In a republic, my vote is the greatest power I have. The vote is what makes me a full citizen and if I swear, regardless of circumstance, to give it to a person then I am honor bound to do it.
Too few of us have a cause greater than ourselves. It is good that we love our family, church, nation, and God, but God before country, church, family or self. Christians can never say: “my country right or wrong,” because we are called to serve the right. We can swear allegiance to a church leader, employer, or parent, but that allegiance is always checked by this simple phrase: “so help me God.”
Only God can help us keep our word, but God’s help also provides a limit to our commitment. We can only vow to the limit of God’s help. Words matter. My Daddy taught me: “Better to die than to tell a lie.” I could never swear an oath to any man without saying: “so help me God.” No Christian can. No Christian would ask.
That Donald J. Trump did ask, and ask again, is disturbing. He is a child of our history too . . .and he should know better. I will never swear such an oath. So help me God.
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