Do You Solemnly Swear or Affirm?

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick was sworn in this week using an historical Bible that has a connection to the United Church of Christ. Here is the story as reported in the Patriot Ledger.

It was a striking and appropriate symbol of what is great about our nation. Slavery was sad mark against the grand vision of our nation. Yet it was that very idealism that led to the correction. And today we continue to progress toward claiming the high ideal of equality for all. One ironic connection to that on-going story today is the flap over the inauguration of the first Muslim member of Congress, Keith Ellison of Minnesota. He chose to have a Koran be the book on which he placed his hand in the symbolic pictures following his official swearing in. To his credit, he chose to borrow a significant Koran for this use. The book he used once belonged to Thomas Jefferson. What a splendid way to remind all of us of the way our government was designed to include people of all faiths and creeds. I think the Founding Fathers would be smiling.

To add to the irony of this alleged controversy, it is noteworthy that Rep. Ellison was not the first member of Congress to forgo a Bible at his swearing in. Debbie Wasserman Schultz took her oath in 2005 on a Tanakh, a Hebrew Bible. Not only that, but a number of presidents have deviated from this tradition as well. Theodore Roosevelt did not use a Bible in taking his first oath in 1901 (although he did use one in 1905). Herbert Hoover, citing his Quaker beliefs, chose to affirm, not swear his oath. Franklin Pierce also chose to affirm. And to top off the irony, John Quincy Adams in 1825 chose not the Bible, but a legal volume in taking his own oath of office.

Maybe we can all look beyond the petty issues that divide, to instead celebrate the grand vision that unites all of us.