These ceremonies are, I think, a Good Thing. It\u2019s good for democracy and life together to have a little ritual to celebrate and sacralize the peaceful transition of government.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also the law, right there in Article VI of the Constitution<\/a>:<\/p>\n This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.<\/span><\/p>\n The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of 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.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n If you read those two paragraphs then you\u2019re a step ahead of millions of your fellow Americans who seem convinced that taking this oath of office somehow requires one to place one hand on a Bible.<\/p>\n As you can see above, it does not require that.<\/p>\n And as you can see above it expressly and unambiguously forbids<\/em> anyone to require that. The \u201cno religious Test\u201d clause of the Constitution is in the same section \u2014 the same sentence<\/em> \u2014 as the requirement to support the Constitution \u201cby Oath or Affirmation.\u201d<\/p>\n And yet, despite that explicit language forbidding any religious test and despite the absence of any reference to anyone placing their hand on anything, the unconstitutional and anti-constitutional folklore persists that the oath of office is somehow only legitimate if it is taken by someone placing their [white] hand on a Bible.<\/p>\n This leads to white Christian nationalist freak-outs every January.<\/p>\n We saw this earlier this month when Zohran Mamdani, the first Muslim elected mayor of New York City, used the Quran at his swearing-in ceremony<\/a>. Hemant Mehta wrote about that White Christian Right\u2019s flaccid firestorm over that<\/a>, bringing back this delightful clip from Alabama Republican Ted Crockett\u2019s disastrous interview on CNN. Crockett. a spokesman for Neo-Confederate White Nationalist Alabama judge (and small-town Jeffrey Epstein) Roy Moore, appeared utterly gobsmacked to learn that the folklore of religious chauvinism he was sure must be American law is actually forbidden by the Constitution:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/52\/2026\/01\/Brennan-231x300.jpg\")
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