Driven To Distraction: Focus On The Family Agonizes Over Optional Bus Board Oath
We do not honor religious liberty by coercing people to make professions of faith they do not sincerely hold to be true.
It’s amazing the things that get the Religious Right all worked up.
In Denver recently, a member of the Regional Transportation District asked about the possibility of altering an oath of office to remove a reference to God. Dave Ruchman said he was acting on behalf of a former member who felt uncomfortable taking a religious oath.
The oath reads, “I do solemnly swear by the ever-living God…that I will faithfully perform the duties of the office of director of the Regional Transportation District to which I have been elected/appointed.”
Members of this body, which oversees public transportation in Denver, decided to make the oath optional. Ruchman said he was fine with that. End of story, right?
Nope.
“Without a reference to God, an oath is practically worthless,” harrumphed Tom Minnery, senior vice president of government and public policy at Focus on the Family.
Everyone take a deep breath. This is a transportation board. Its job it to make sure the buses run on time and that they are safe, clean and accessible. Where the board members worship, and indeed if they worship at all, would not seem to be relevant to this task.
The framers of the U.S. Constitution understood this. The presidential Oath of Office, found in Article II, Sect. 1, reads, “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and I will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Notice what’s missing? There is no reference to God. George Washington added the phrase “So help me, God” to the oath, and other presidents have followed suit – but it isn’t required. Under Minnery’s view, the presidential oath, as originally written, must be “practically worthless.”
Actually, compelling someone to swear an oath that they don’t believe in is what makes the oath worthless. We do not honor religious liberty by coercing people to make professions of faith they do not sincerely hold to be true. The Denver Regional Transportation District understands this, as its recent action shows. Why can’t Focus on the Family?