New NASA Director Swears Oath on Carl Sagan’s ‘Pale Blue Dot’ Instead of Bible

Post by 988747 » Wed, Apr 12, 2023, 12:59 PM UTC

seanhunter wrote: post #86

nonethewiser wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But what does meaning have to do with it? Your marriage certificate and car title have meaning. But if the people being sworn in don’t view their documents as having some authority over their promise then what is the point? It’s equivalent to no document in that regard. It really doesnt make much sense unless you’re using a Bible, Quran, etc. Edit: Here is the crux: God holds you accountable, or at least is believed…

That's absurd. If God exists then God holds you accountable for your actions whether you swear or not, whether you use a Bible, Carl Sagan, Dr Seuss or a copy of TCP/IP Illustrated by W Richard Stevens. If God doesn't exist then it clearly doesn't matter what document you swear on at all, because the document is just a signal of values in that case. Either way you are legally bound by the oath you have made and if yo…

Post by unixgoddess » Wed, Apr 12, 2023, 1:00 PM UTC

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Apr 12, 2023, 1:05 PM UTC

eternalban wrote: post #152

boeingUH60 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No Christian can obey all the statutes of the Bible, or else they'll have to withdraw from modern life. The book is contradictory anyways...another part says obey the laws and regulations of the land. So, if the law says you must swear in, what then? Was raised Christian (no longer one) and even attended a Christian college where we took an oath to be diligent, hard-working students...somebody better not check my tra…

non-Christian reader of Jesus son of Mary here. He is simply saying that your outward promises must be a simple reflection of your internal resolve. "simple yes or no". And dressing it up either as being based on divine attribures or your given nature is a form of deception, self-deception or otherwise. "anything more than this comes from evil" Which is basically true. You know your internal position. It is either ye…

Post by kiba » Wed, Apr 12, 2023, 1:07 PM UTC

MarkPNeyer wrote: post #118

jen729w wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you do so with your hand over a representation of who will witness and judge you for that The premise is flawed. I don’t believe that there is any being who ‘will witness and judge me’. That is, other than my peers. Who are not supernatural. My using a Sagan book is therefore nothing more than symbolism: here’s who I am. Here’s what I represent. If you see this and think, ‘hell yeah!’, then you are in the cohort wh…

For some reason this seems really hard for people to accept: That religious people actually think there are consequences for their choices, even if no human being ever knows.

Post by masfuerte » Wed, Apr 12, 2023, 1:08 PM UTC

noirscape wrote: post #95

tescocles wrote: post #9

Is there any actual strict requirement that you have to swear over a document of some kind? I'd have thought swearing over the bible is a stand-in for swearing "before God", and that God would ultimately be your reckoner should you break your oath. If you don't have that meaning behind the oath, what is the point in using a book at all unless it's something meaningful like the constitution of your country, as another…

The ultimate usefulness of swearing before a God (if you believe in one) isn't that relevant. The psychological reason we tend to request it is because of something far simpler: it reminds us of our convictions. There was a study about a decade ago about this by some social scientists. They made 10 people swear on the ten commandments before making a test intended to check for their honesty, they made another group o…