Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Oath of Allegiance: Would You Immigrate Here If You Had to Swear This Oath?

Historic Oath of Allegiance of the United States
I just looked up the Oath of Allegiance for the United States. It's something immigrants have to swear before becoming citizens... you know, the whole "hold up your right hand and repeat after me" thing.

For those of us born here, we never had to say such a thing or swear any such allegiance to get our citizenship. I decided to look it up because I realized I had no idea what was in it. Now that I've read it,

I feel ashamed that people from all over the world cherish the ability to come here, and they willingly give this oath, yet I have never done such a thing because it wasn't required of me. Reading it gave me a small sense of what I have taken for granted in my citizenship.

Evidently there are modified versions of this oath for certain religious exceptions. For example, if somebody's religious training and beliefs specifically prohibited bearing arms, this person could take a modified oath omitting that reference. Here it is, in it's entirety:

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."
There is also a history of this oath, as it changes from time to time. If you read the photo above, there are references to King George III. Tracking the changes over the years would be interesting. I tried to find a timeline of oaths or something similar but couldn't. Also note the reference to God at the end. Makes me wonder what would happen if we managed to get rid of all references to God, everywhere in the government. Would the oath be meaningless?

This is sobering and in all honesty, I am not comfortable with everything in that oath. Specifically, it sounds like I would have to renounce allegiance to the Pope. That's just not something I am willing to do. But maybe I'm reading too much into it? I don't know. 

What do you think? Can you take this oath right now?

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