My word
Something’s been bugging me for a while since my Jury duty that maybe your guys can give me an opinion on. Up there on a jury stand you must place your hand on a bible and swear to tell the truth (different wording but you get the idea). You had another option which was called an affirmation where you raise your hand, which I assume (I’m not sure though) is for those who do not follow the bible (not the best choice of words but I’m sure you know what I'm getting at here). Now to the question; As I follow no religion, so there for can not swear by any "God" that I’m telling the truth, does this make me a lyre to those who do believe in a "God" as I have nothing to swear by but my word?
posted by KellsBSblog @ 7:46 PM
2 Comments:
At 6:46 PM,
Rachel said…
Dude,
That's an interesting question.
First of all, I don't think it makes you a liar... the question is more related to what assurance people can give that they are telling the truth. People who believe in God might swear on the Bible to show that they are telling the truth: if they lied under oath it would be an offense against the God they love.
Those who don't believe in any greater power than human beings can only really give their word and a promise to keep it based on ideas about what is the right thing to do - that is, morality.
My question is: where do morals come from? If there is no God, then who do people answer to? If there's no God, we could argue, people are not accountable to a higher power than themselves, but only to each other. If there's no God, how do we work out what is wrong and right? Do we base it on whether or not an action hurts other humans? If we do, we are in effect acknowledging what God has already stated - that human beings are not mere animals but are special creations of God whose lives are to be respected and valued. If we create our own rules for the human race, how do we know what to call 'wrong'? Is a white lie 'wrong'? If not, then is fraud 'wrong'? Where do you draw the line?
I'd be interested to see what others think about these things - if any readers don't believe in God, I'd be interested to know: where do you get your morals from?
At 3:18 PM,
Trav said…
i reckon God would agree with you on this one Kell. I dont think it makes any difference whether i swear by a Bible or say i promise. It reminds me of what Jesus told many people about promises (in his day people swore by lots of different objects)and he said 'just say yes or no and let that be.
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