Recently a brilliant scientist and an advocate of reason Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) made a tweet that had me thinking. The tweet was mocking comment how US Air Force, specifically people who have the authority of launching nuclear weapons, must swear an oath with the controversial “so help me God” part.
Richard jokingly added that we make people wielding the power of a Fiery Armageddon swear to a magical sky pixie. Thankfully, Hitchens is not involved in this matter or he’d add something about people being retards, morons and a complete egregious misrepresentation of what it would mean. A sort of intellectual fallacies and comical deconstruction of short Roman-era stories.
Now, there are a lot of things to say regarding this matter. One can get into hours log debate of the nature of the “so help me God” clause in the oath. Yet, lets keep it simple for blog’s sake.
The idea of invoking God in this oath, especially in a modern-day American society, doesn’t stem from a belief that God destroyed the walls of Jericho or parted the Red Sea – These are stories meant for the propagation of faith (which they successfully done) in the time people didn’t know of things such as genetics, atomic physics or mass conservation. They served the part to spread the idea of Christianity, and within its “perverse platonstic core” several ideas of great importance for the preservation of society.
Do not steal.
Do not kill.
Do not fornicate.
Respect your elders.
Yes, all things anti-theists say, stand: Stories are weak and one-dimensional. Priests occupy themselves with singing, collecting money and child “interaction”. Mindless obedience… etc. the usual stuff.
But the core of Christianity served to superimpose the idea of belonging to larger groups of people, divided by language or genetics, and make them consider themselves as a part of a whole unit. A feeling of such belonging served so that the law that governed it would be applicable. Naturally, everyone who didn’t have a card to this religious social club was subjected to unrestrained human brutality, as seen in the crusades and present day jihads.
Therefore, I am pretty sure Dr. Dawkins doesn’t see, or chooses not to see the fact that “so help me God” clause serves not to swear to this magical sky pixie of dubious character, but to Ideals that guided and helped humanity chain the atavistic, animal, urges within it.
“So help me God” means – “I am aware of my place in the order of society and of laws that brought this society to this level. I understand that the usage of the power under my command wounds and destroys the society, and I will be very careful of how I do. I am bound by principals higher and more important than my own personal urges or whim, and with full responsibility I take this role.”
At least I hope so…
