Completely neutral on ''so help me God''


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Posted by blindness on January 02, 2026 at 15:33:44

In Reply to: There is no legal requirement for a Bible. posted by BluBlood on January 02, 2026 at 10:34:17

I see it as an idiomatized expression along the lines of "God knows" or "God help us", "God bless", etc. When a phrase is repeated so often or has become a part of something ritualistic, it loses its initial force to me.

Same thing with "Under God". I don't see saying that line as a commitment to God's existence or proclaiming faith, but more like another way of saying something like "under the sun".

Yeah, swearing on the constitution makes a lot of sense. The only downside is, if you're elected a mayor, a copy of the city charter (as the equivalent of the constitution) does not really look all that profound as an act of symbolism.


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