Question from Ashley:
Do you have to swear on the Bible in court? And if you don’t how else would you swear you’re telling the truth?
Answer by SmartLX:
In the United States, and here in Australia, non-believers can affirm a secular oath instead of swearing on a Bible. The US District Court version of the oath is,
“You do affirm that all the testimony you are about to give in the case now before the court will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; this you do affirm under the pains and penalties of perjury?”
The reply is, of course,
“I do.”
The idea of a believer swearing to God to tell the truth in a particular instance seems pointless to me. God’s supposed to know when you’re lying at any time and can supposedly punish you for it after death, whether or not you’ve previously said in public that you won’t lie. A secular oath has exactly the same practical purpose as religious oaths (e.g. “so help me God”): to make a witness immediately punishable on Earth for perjury, thus providing a very good reason for the witness to tell the truth.