A Virtual Church

Making a mockery of the oath

December 29, 2023

In my darkest imagination, I see Donald Trump on Inauguration Day 2025. He is smug as he places his hand on the Bible and pledges his oath to uphold the Constitution. I can almost see his fingers and toes crossed as he places one hand on the Bible, held by stalwart wife Melania, and pledges something he clearly has no intention of doing. 
 
If the years since 2017 have taught us anything, they have revealed how a cult leader gob-smacks norms of democracy for power and personal gain. He is cheered for his taking on the establishment, the “deep state,” whatever that is. He will take it all apart if he has his way. Then what? 
 
The entrustment of the presidency to various leaders since the founding fathers defined the office and lived into what it meant to uphold an oath, is sacred trust. Mostly sober, solid men have held the presidency with full intent to protect the Constitution and the rule of law. This is our social compact. 
 
Democracies are fragile and fraught with shortcomings we all see. But in my lifetime, I have never seen such a disregard, dismissal, and degradation of the presidential oath of office. 
 
People who enter the military take a similar oath. Thank you, Michael Flynn for showing us how not to live that oath. Lawyers make almost the same oath before the Bar to which they have been admitted. John Eastman, Rudi Giuliani, Sidney Powell and too many others to list have made a mockery of their oath. Legislatures and Congresses are also sworn in with oaths. Look where that’s gotten us.
 
Most oaths are sworn on a Bible or other holy book. This raises the level of the promises made to a higher level, because now God is party to the oath. In that way, the presidential oath is a little like a marriage covenant. There are three parties involved.
 
Couples stand before a clergy person or Justice of the Peace, or “quickie internet ordained and licensed” officiant and make vows of one kind or another. We all know the marriage oath is made a mockery in every extra-marital affair, fling, or abandonment. Adultery is widespread among us; look at divorce rates. So much for pledging our vow. 
 
What happens in us when we take our oaths too casually? Commitment to one’s word, fulfillment to the promises made is the only stabilizing force among us. If our word is no good, nothing can be built upon it. We dissolve into a morass of selfishness and greed. We risk alienation from friend, family, even God, as we live our “my-way or the highway” kind of life. 
 
The New Year approaches saying, “Here I come, ready or not.” Many look at the New Year as a tabula rasa, the blank slate onto which something fresh and new can be written. We make resolutions, many of which are forgotten by February. And the trajectory of forgotten oaths continues to rise. 
 
Where is accountability in all this? Who is holding us accountable when we act singularly in our own self-will with little concern for the other people with whom we are in covenant, held by the oath made before God and other people. 
 
We watch the circus of politics knowing it is performance art, with little effectiveness in helping the American people. And our North Carolina legislature helps few but their own members and tribe. Who will trust us as a nation when the discourse is so detached from the values we have claimed and the oaths we have made for over two-hundred years? 
 
2024 will bring many side shows. Much clamor and gnashing of teeth. What will be front and center for us in 2024? Resolutions, promises, vows, oaths – how are we upholding them? How self-evident are they in our lives as we approach a new year? 
 
Lib Campbell is a retired Methodist pastor, retreat leader, columnist and host of the blogsite www.avirtualchurch.com. She can be contacted at libcam05@gmail.com