Don't Swear

During Rudd’s return to power and the changing of the guard that accompanied it there was an issue of one of the MPs being sworn in on the Koran. Australia, being the civilized and multicultural country that it is, vilified Ed Husic with a level of bile and disrespect that was reminiscent of the Cronulla Riots in 2005.

Well… I also have an issue with Ed Husic being sworn in on the Koran. I also have an issue with all of the other MPs who were sworn in on religious texts as well.

Ed Husic with our Governor General

4 out of 5 of Australia’s current MPs were sworn in on a religious text. With the majority using a bible - a small proportion used the Torah and the Koran. Within the Australian legal system swearing on a bible is still the norm during witness testimony and jury selection.

Maybe they have not read the section of the bible that expressly forbids swearing an oath:

“But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.  And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.  All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” Mathew 5:33-37

But this is beside the point.

Having our MPs swear an oath to God while using a Bible only helps reinforce religiosity as the norm in Australia (in particular Christianity). The problem is that I don’t want someone’s religious beliefs affecting their decisions during formal legal proceedings. I realize that this is not something to can be entirely stamped out (thought crime is so very 1984), however by affirming on a bible it does some harm by re-affirming that this is something we consider to be respectable and something that we value.

Which religions are we going to allow people to be sworn in on? If a MP professes belief in the Flying Spaghetti Monster and wants to be sworn in holding a pack of pasta should that be allowed?

So, a), someone holding their hand over a book does not guarantee their integrity, their belief in the rights of Australians, or that they will not lie, cheat, or steal their way through office. A book cannot do that.

But, b), I also believe that there can be little integrity to be found in swearing on a book that contains the following: 

"I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man. She must be quiet." Timothy 2:12 

 "Then God said: 'Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a holocaust on a height that I will point out to you'." Genesis 22:2 

 "Slaves, be subject to your masters with all reverence, not only to those who are good and equitable but also to those who are perverse." Peter 2:18 

 "When the men would not listen to his host, the husband seized his concubine and thrust her outside to them. They had relations with her and abused her all night until the following dawn, when they let her go. Then at daybreak the woman came and collapsed at the entrance of the house in which her husband was a guest, where she lay until the morning. When her husband rose that day and opened the door of the house to start out again on his journey, there lay the woman, his concubine, at the entrance of the house with her hands on the threshold. He said to her, 'Come, let us go'; but there was no answer. So the man placed her on an ass and started out again for home." Judges 19:25-28

(note: I have left out direct quotes from the Koran, because I couldn’t be bothered finding the section where Mohammed takes a 9 year old wife)

And so on, and so on. We're condoning a set of fundamentally immoral books.

I realize that this is impossible to effectively stop, but we can mitigate or discourage this by making an affirmation on the constitution.

We empower ourselves with responsibility over our actions, responsibility over our destinies, and responsibility for directing, maintaining and creating our own ethical and moral frameworks, which is the ultimate goal - isn't it?

The idea that we don’t know right from wrong but must take our inspiration for it from a book that was written by hot headed and neurotic desert tribes is insane.

So yes I have a problem with Ed Husic being sworn in on the Koran, but I also have an issue with every juror, every witness and every MP having the bible as the default rather than our constitution.