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Originally Posted by crich70
I think it's not so much the religious book as that you are making a sacred promise (before your deity) to tell the truth or suffer punishment. Making a promise to another man is one thing and making it to a God is another.
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Emphasis mine. This isn't universally true for obvious reasons that are better suited for the P&R forum and, more importantly, in the US the type of oath has no legal relevance. In terms of the law, the aspect that matters is that the person has given their word, and that it is clear that they are aware they are required to be truthful. As I quoted in my previous post:
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No specific form of oath is required. The oath must only be sufficiently clear that the declarant is aware that he or she is under oath and required to speak the truth.
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When I was in court, I only swore to tell the truth, period. No books or objects were involved, and I would have objected if there had been. I won't go any further here, but if you wish to start a thread in P&R to discuss non-religious oaths vs. religious oaths, I'll chime in there.