The Truth & Nothing But!

 

He marched as best he could, stood at attention, finally accepted a chair, but stayed!  Duty first.

Those of you who follow my blog know that I have written about the shaky attitude many people have about telling the truth.  Whether it is stretching the truth a tiny bit to make a better story, or simply telling a whopper, research shows that many people find it difficult to stick to the absolute truth.

There is a difference between shading the facts a little in a simple conversation or simply getting the truth wrong innocently because of forgetfulness or mistaken belief.  Taking an oath is significantly different. If you are accused of perjury -- willfully and knowingly lying after taking an oath to tell the truth, there can be consequences.  If you lie or sign a document that you know contains false assertions, you can serve up to 4 years in state prison and be ordered to pay thousands of dollars in fines. 

We are familiar with Presidents swearing with their hand on a Bible, but it isn't the Bible that makes the oath obligatory.  John Quincy Adams swore on a book of law.  Teddy Roosevelt did not swear on any book at all.  It is the declaration of telling the truth that makes the oath binding. 

Government offices, including civil servants and notaries must take an oath.  Law enforcement must swear to support the Constitution, their state Constitution, the laws of their jurisdiction, and to ensure safety and quality of life of the communities they serve.  Certain professions are required to take oaths, such as doctors and dentists. Lawyers must take an oath, and the content of the oath differs from state to state.

Lawyer's oaths in the early years of our nation were pretty simple--just "do no falsehood."  Or it was suggested that lawyers were expected to "faithfully and honestly demean myself...and to comply with public obligations," but there was no provision for what that meant.  Today, each state determines their obligation, some relatively brief while others are fairly detailed.  Concern about the disrespectful demeaner shown by many lawyers in courtrooms has led to Lawyer Civility Oaths in some states, requiring that opposing counsel be treated "with respect and dignity."   

 Of course, those who are elected by the people to serve in state and national offices have particular responsibilities, which they swear to perform.  Members of the supreme Court, who are not elected, swear to administer justice without respect to persons & do equal right to the poor and to the rich and faithfully and impartially discharge & perform all the duties incumbent on them under the constitution and laws of the United States.  

Enlisted personal swear allegiance to the Constitution, the President, and Officers.  However, Officers swear an oath to the constitution only.  The Founding Fathers wisely limited Officers' oath to only the Constitution in order to protect against officers being bound to follow the orders of a dictator, an example of the checks and balances wisely anticipated by the Founding Fathers.

In a time when telling the truth is less assured than perhaps it once was, the responsibility of taking an oath of office becomes even more important.  Our legal system depends upon the responsibility of everyone in a court room to respect the oaths and duties they assume--the witnesses, the jury, the respectful behavior of those in the court room, the Judge, the lawyers, and those reporting the news--with accuracy and without bias.

It is true that we as a nation are more polarized than perhaps in other times.  It is true that many traditional customs have been discarded or weakened.  It is true that respect in general for many things are not faithfully observed.  Some of that may be good, but some of it may not be.  As the old saying goes, we have shown ourselves capable of being able to right the ship even if it begins to flounder.  But disrespect for the checks and balances the Founding Fathers gave us is not something to disregard.  While we can hope that the checks and balances they put in place will hold, we must not test that balance to its extremes, and each of us shares that responsibility.