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In our time of deep division in this sweet land of liberty, an unexpected issue in Congress came to public light last week. Back in late February, House subcommittee chair, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), administered the obligatory oath to three witnesses but omitted the traditional concluding words: “So help me God.” The Chair’s omission did not go unnoticed, triggering a short but lively debate over this ancient custom in the administration of oaths in the English-speaking world. All this more recently entered the broader media world with The New York Times effectively breaking the story earlier this month.

What to make of this? At one level, the justification for the novel omission was grounded in the critically important text of America’s Constitution forbidding the imposition of religious tests. That was the specific constitutional provision advanced by Rep. Gerald Nadler (D-N.Y.), who also happens to chair of the House Judiciary Committee.