If you speak the truth and fulfill every promise made in good faith, there is no need for obligations.

An oath is a necessary principal assurance to the public that our word is as reliable as our bond. Oaths impose a responsibility upon those who take the solemn obligations.

The person calls upon God to witness their words in front of witnesses. We defy God if we break our pledge. Over time oaths have lost their strength.

There is a lack of reflection and understanding of the seriousness of the commitment. The promise and the duty a person is undertaking in an oath. It’s easy to see why society does not fear pledges, responsibilities, obligations, and affirmations.

A lack of people sentenced for perjury, broken vows, and a growing number of nonbelievers is evidence enough.

Every person can restore strength and integrity to their promises. We need to start having firm commitments with our declarations. Without rewards or punishment, there is no fear of not doing the right thing.

Sworn before George Washington on June 9, 1778, this oath of allegiance was taken by the Marquis De La Fayette, Major General in the Continental Army.

I’ve taken many oaths during my lifetime. Like many today, I wasn’t taught the importance of obligations. You might stand before a group of people, repeat some words, and then everyone shake your hand.

I do not recall a time when I learned all the different oath’s meanings or how you should live up to those standards.

Then, when I took my Christian obligations, my profession became a profound part of my life. The time I spent learning about the religious ceremony and responsibilities gave me clarity. The vow is a promise to take part in the mission of the church.

I’ve taken an oath and renewed that oath several times for the U.S. Army to support and defend the United States’ Constitution against all enemies. Several times a month, I pledge allegiance to the flag. In grade school, I swore allegiance to the flag and later to the Boy Scout oath.

I’ve taken all oaths with a common theme, and I didn’t understand them as I do now. Pledges have developed over time and the symbolic meanings of them.

The earliest covenants recorded are in The Bible.

I do not judge and am aware that there are differences in beliefs. My intent isn’t to promote Christianity but to emphasize obligations and how spirituality has played a defining role.

I’m sure there are many similarities in all sacred texts.

When the LORD said in his heart shortly after Noah built an altar and the LORD smelled the burnt offerings’ aroma,

“I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the Earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” Genesis 8:21 (ESV)

The symbolic act of oaths is an assurance to the people your word is valid.

You call upon God to hear your promise, though you do not have to call upon God because He is always listening and seeing. Oaths should serve as a reminder of the obligations that ‘you’ took.

Breaking your obligation will invoke God’s vengeance and remove his kindness in your life. With the rise of atheism and agnostic believers, those that believe there is a Governor of the Universe, but He does not partake in daily affairs, brings the question to the importance of an oath. An oath is a reaffirmation of faith, a promise, and commitment.

Every two out of ten people you meet today are nonbelievers. The conscience is slow to build up moral guilt. When enough blame is built up, it’s too late because injury to another has taken place. Oaths are pointless for nonbelievers.

After biblical times until the 21st-century, people do not fear penalties when they meet their maker but the penalties they face from fellow-man. The most solemn vow of joining hands as man and wife has little to no importance today.

There are 6.5 divorces per 1000 people. The good news is that this is down from 9.8 divorces per 1000 people since 1998. However, I don’t think this tells the truth because the general consensus is that fewer people are engaging in marriage as a commitment to someone else and more are waiting till later in life to get married. During the silent generation, 66% of men lived in households with their families, today less than 34% of millennials live with their families. These statistics show less commitment to our word, obligations, and responsibilities, and the faith of our communities and families.

It’s interesting that an atheist takes an obligation and places their hand on a blank, black book, symbolic of a Bible. Then they raise the right hand towards the Heavens as many do with a Bible and make an affirmation. The actual Bible may not be there, but all the symbolic gestures as they happen are conducted.

Can we rely on these oaths that those who are unsworn have taken?

They have no fear of God or concern for breaking a pledge. Even our justice system has failed to uphold the integrity of oaths. Only 86 of 42,436 convicted criminals in 1996 were the result of perjury. Our elected officials walk away from their obligations after breaking them, avoiding the penalties.

Rafael Palmeiro stated during a congressional hearing where he took an oath, to tell the truth,

“I have never used steroids. Period.”

Later that same year, he tested positive for steroid use.

His only penalty was a short suspension, and so far, he has not been elected to baseball’s hall of fame. The House Government Reform Committee did not seek charges and stated they weren’t clearing him of perjury.

What deterrent is there to hold people accountable for their oath?

Rafael Palmeiro, Christian or not, I do not know. He is one example of those who ask for forgiveness after they perjure themselves and then receive delayed or minor punishments.

An oath is a solemn declaration, you bind yourself to those duties for the length of your obligation.

Moses provided no punishment for the penalty of perjury. Truth in words gives assurance to society and is evidence of your sincerity. Most men wouldn’t break their promises due to the sanctions imposed and the fear of Judgement Day.

In Greece, men were put to death depending on the severity of the injury, some were marked and fined, others were allowed to face their Gods for their penalties.

Romans also marked men, taking away their Roman Citizen status, their property, made slaves, and wholly disfranchised from the empire, which led many to suicide.

Alfred the Great’s first law set the tone and importance of taking an oath. By making it, the first law, he gave the impression that keeping your word was the most needful thing for men. He believed that faith and trust among men would create a stable society. He felt that peace, commerce, and learning were only possible if the word was bond.

In his law, he placed the following penalties upon a man convicted of breaking his word,

“let him submissively deliver up his weapon and his goods to the keeping of his friends, and be in prison forty days…. Let him there suffer whatever the bishop may prescribe to him; and let his kinsmen feed him if he has no food…. But if he escapes, let him be held a fugitive, and be excommunicate of all Christ’s churches….”

In England, men were chastised, banished, tongues and hands cut off, denied Christian burials, and even death.

Civilization has come a long way since those days. We have a more rational way of dealing with crime now.

However, faith and trust aren’t what society believes creates a stable environment.

Without our word or our obligations, what do we have?

Will we be a just society, or will we resolve to tyranny? I’m not an expert in divination, but I fear that we become as Xenophon stated:

“such as the rulers of a country are, such, in general, will also be the people.”

Meaning that the public looks up to its public leaders, and they will immolate their actions. They believe they are right and just in what they do. The people elected them to that office because they were influenced and persuaded to follow them, so they do as this person does.

A case of monkey sees monkey do.

Xenophon may have lived ages ago but lived and watched massive empires like the Greeks, Spartans, and Persians. During this time, you could say there were backstabbing and broken oaths. Today you might get a public spanking; back then, it might mean your life when you turn that next corner.

We are not going to stab to death a public official as they come out of a temple in Rome like Caesar and others.

It starts with the people holding their leaders accountable.

With the appropriate punishment enforced, the following successors will be deterred from desecrating an office. Successors will bring dignity and respect to the position.

Without consequences, our word means nothing because once a man meets his maker, the damage has already been done. We must police ourselves up and maintain our loyalty and selfless service to our commitments.