Hi, Dr. Bill.
I'm sure you know that being sworn in wih one's hand on the Bible is not mandated in the Constitution -- it was added by George Washington at the First Inaugural, and every President since has followed the tradition.
-- Dave K, Speakeasy Moderator
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The opinions expressed above are my own,
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I've long been concerned that secular institutions (like government) sometimes co-opt elements of religious practice. Why in the world should a high school graduation have an invocation? Why should witnesses in court be sworn in with one hand on a Bible? This kind of stuff strikes me as incongruent with the notion of separation of church and state, and I think it inevitably tends to suggest that the state can and should be treated with reverence that is appropriately directed to God alone.
George Will has a different take on it: MSNBC - Paradoxes of Public Piety.
Personally I find the prospects of a 'civil religion' unappealing. The article does, however raise an interesting question. How strongly linked are Christianity and democracy? It is obvious that Christians did not invent democracy, but it does appear that most of the successful democracies to date have sprung up in countries that have been heavily influenced by Christian churches of one form or another. Is there a connection? Will's claim is that President Bush does not think there is a connection.
I do not know how long the link will be 'live' so I quoted a bit more of the article than I normally might have:
Paradoxes of Public Piety
An evangelical president is severing a connection some evangelicals fervently believe in, that between Christianity and democracy
...
McClay says a civil religion is practical because the state is "more than just a secular institution." The state "must sometimes call upon its citizens for acts of sacrifice and self-overcoming" and so "must be able to draw on spiritual resources" and "visions of the direction of history."
...
Orwin says the mainline Protestant churches, which seem to regard Christianity "primarily as a buttress for progressive morality," have responded to secularism by capitulating to it and the discourse of psychotherapy and personal fulfillment. Today's mainline Christians are quasi-relativists, nonjudgmental?militantly so?regarding everything except departures from progressivism.
...
"By its deeds, not merely its words, this administration has exceeded all previous ones in rejecting the dependence of democracy on Christianity."
By promoting civil religion, conservatives are investing the state with dignity, duties and pretensions?something "more than just a secular institution"?beyond the dreams of the most statist liberals. But Bush, the most evangelical of presidents, is severing a connection some evangelicals fervently believe in. It is the connection between Christianity and democracy, and especially American democracy.
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