Comments on: Trivia: Teddy Roosevelt Sworn In Without a Bible

By: Re:Rita (2)

Re:Rita (2) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:49:13 +0000

Rita,
So nice that you say “our God”, good thing you obviously chose (yes chose) the right one to follow, instead of “their God”, whomever that may be.

By: Arthur Mboue

Arthur Mboue — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:10:39 +0000

swearing in w/o a bible or koran may be unconstitutional.(Osama, Obama, Teddy roosevelt, Peter Botha,..) The court has yet to grant atheists group this ‘unprecedent’ victory,
In God we [still] trust
Arthur Mboue MBA, JD,

By: re:rita

re:rita — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:37:38 +0000

and telling them they are going to hell is clearly the solution….

By: rita

rita — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:30:41 +0000

that is why the world is going to hell cause they have took our God out of everything

By: Oscar

Oscar — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 03:43:33 +0000

After Kennedy was assassinated, LBJ was sworn in on Air Force One with a Catholic book of prayers because they couldn’t find a bible. This is also the first time that a woman swore a president in.

By: Allen Garvin

Allen Garvin — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:16:18 +0000

Pierce was the first to affirm, but not the only one. Herbert Hoover, being a Quaker, also affirmed instead of swearing, though he did use a Bible. (see for instance: http://inaugural.senate.gov/history/factsandfirsts/)

I’ve read that John Quincy Adams didn’t use a Bible either, but perhaps there might just be a lack of evidence to come down to us.

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:16:07 +0000

Ah, another reason he was a great President

By: Man or Monster

Man or Monster — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:31:43 +0000

Matthew 5:33-37 (YLT) (Jesus is speaking)

33 Again, ye heard that it was said to the ancients: Thou shalt not swear falsely, but thou shalt pay to the Lord thine oaths;

34 but I — I say to you, not to swear at all; neither by the heaven, because it is the throne of God,

35 nor by the earth, because it is His footstool, nor by Jerusalem, because it is a city of a great king,

36 nor by thy head mayest thou swear, because thou art not able one hair to make white or black;

37 but let your word be, Yes, Yes, No, No, and that which is more than these is of the evil.
—————————–
The OT commanded that one does not swear falsely. Jesus stated that one should not swear at all, to just let their “Yes” and “No” mean exactly that, to always tell the truth so that there is no reason to swear.

So yes, it seems ridiculous that anyone should swear on the Bible (or on anything else for that matter), because anyone who believes the Bible should know not to swear on it. Apparently Roosevelt didn’t want “In God We Trust” on money, as he felt it was blasphemous. I assume he refused to swear on the Bible for the same reason.

By: Nicholas Dollak

Nicholas Dollak — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:11:38 +0000

I’ve always found the practice of “swearing on a Bible” to be puzzling and kind of blasphemous, since it clearly instructs us NOT to swear — on anything! Perhaps Pierce and Roosevelt felt this way too.

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:32:30 +0000

So noted and changed! Thanks Dan!

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:30:35 +0000

I think to be technically accurate, you need to rephrase.

You say “Theodore Roosevelt was the only U.S. President not sworn in on a Bible.”, but then you describe that Franklin Pierce was not sworn in. Therefore, Franklin Pierce was not sworn in on anything, including a bible. A more accurate, but still enticing, way to put it might be, “Theodore Roosevelt was the only U.S. President sworn in without a Bible.”

Thanks for the stream of neat stuff,
-Dan