[ren_engineer]

>If you don't have that meaning behind the oath, what is the point in using a book at all unless?

the point is a childish rebellion against traditions the nation was founded on as a social signal to their in-group for validation. Might as well tip a fedora while giving the oath

[roywiggins]

Thomas Jefferson literally sliced up a bible to produce a version of the Jesus narrative without all the miracles! The founders were busily questioning their own traditions at the time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Bible?wprov=sfla1

Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in without a Bible:

https://guides.loc.gov/presidential-inaugurations/1897-1925#...

[Robotbeat]

But I find it very Protestant and American, in a way, to challenge conventional rituals done for ritual sake regardless of belief.

As a protestant myself, give me an atheist pledging the oath over something they believe in (not in a religious sense here, but a personal philosophy sense) over an atheist making a mockery of religion by pledging the oath over something they don't believe in (and may detest).

[tekla]

> traditions the nation was founded on

Remind me which of those they were, considering much of the founding fathers directly based much of the nation on the French system of government and after Enlightenment ideals, which famously rejected the role of God in Government

[jackothy]

Religion can be rebelled against for reasons that are not childish.

Also, I'm sure there are even many Christians that would specifically not want you to swear on a Bible if you are not a believer, because that would be dishonest.

[klodolph]

Please try to keep the discussion civil. That comment is not civil.

People naturally have different interpretations of the ceremony where you swear an oath. Some people believe that the ceremony is symbolic—there is no actual entity whose wrath they are invoking if they break the oath. It is natural to want to make the ceremony conform somewhat to your actual, personal beliefs, rather than participating inauthentically. That’s all that’s needed here to understand the decision.