Comments on: A Replacement for “So Help Me God”

By: Ambrand.com

Ambrand.com — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:54:06 +0000

To the Original Poster; What County or Jurisdiction was this in. I know that in Ireland and the UK an affirmation is allowed but the wording it not “On my honour” its “I AFFIRM that…”

By: False Prophet

False Prophet — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:28:44 +0000

@Tom,

If someone swears an oath on something they do not believe nor hold sacred, is that oath worth a damn? Would you respect someone who had sworn an oath to the Tooth Fairy? This has nothing to do with the prevailing cultural zeitgeist, it’s about integrity.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:15:24 +0000

I’m also new to this site, and was woefully ignorant that I should have been studying about being an atheist as well as just being one over the last 41 years. This site has really opened my eyes.

I really like “On my honor”. After all, I am a proud American!

@ jess: You can just say “Gesundheit”. According to Wikipedia it means “Health”. Or, you can just hand them a tissue.

By: Jim H

Jim H — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:10:07 +0000

@Jess: I always just use the German “gesundheit.”. That word translates as “Health.” That’s just what you wanted to say, but much shorter.

Regarding the pledge: “one nation indivisible” was my preference until I saw the video linked above. We are indeed one nation under nobody.

By: James

James — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:15:50 +0000

Recently, swearing in as an Army civilian, we were told that we didn’t have the say “So help me God” — it was optional.

On the pledge:

I change “under God” to “under law”.

I don’t recall who tipped me off to that idea — might well have been here!

By: jess

jess — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:05:08 +0000

I’m new to this site so this may have already been discussed, but the idea is related. Any thoughts on how to politely acknowledge a sneeze other than “god bless you.”?

I’m in favor of: “I’m glad your heart’s still beating and you appear not to have injured yourself.” but it seems a bit lengthy.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:54:01 +0000

@Christophe Till: I may have been wrong about it being wholly private. I think I got the wrong end of the stick during my orientation. There is private funding and donations but I think the government has a hand in it too.

In any case I’ve had to sign oaths at other private institutions when I was working as a nurse (this was before the “so help me god” would have bothered me).

@ Medussa: I don’t know what kind of training is involved as the commissioner of oaths works in the HR department as a manager. Probably a day course followed by being sworn in by a judge or something.

By: Gordon

Gordon — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:16:36 +0000

My choice is “So say we all”

By: Nightshadequeen

Nightshadequeen — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:07:58 +0000

About the “under God” bit.

I used to substitute any random deity’s name for “God”. Zeus, Thor, Athena, Quetzalcoatl.

Occasionally (back when Bush was president), I’d say “under Bush”. “Under democracy” doesn’t have the same ring, but it was a bit more pointed.

I dunno. I never cared much about the pledge; I just felt it was a wasted five or so minutes.

By: Corey Mondello

Corey Mondello — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:54:07 +0000

When a group is together, in a situation where they are directed to all say “So help me God”…its very easy to just move your lips and mumble something other than “So help me God” because chances are no one is watching that closely….I’ve done it a few times….felt “evil” in a good way.