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Does everyone know the meaning of "affirm" when used in the oath of office?

The Oath of Office:

"I do solemnly swear (or AFFIRM) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." No mention of "so help me god".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_of_office_of_the...

"In law, an affirmation is a solemn declaration allowed to those who conscientiously object to taking an oath. An affirmation has exactly the same legal effect as an oath, but is usually taken to avoid the religious implications of an oath."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmation_in_law

7 Answers

Relevance
  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    I think the key is the phrasing.

    The option to "Affirm" rather than "swear", back in the days when religious perceptions were even more rigid and dogmatic, the term was perceived not only in the sense of using profanity (to swear) but also in the sense of giving higher allegiance and precedence to a temporal, rather than a spiritual, authority. Thus replacing ones primary loyalty and allegiance not to "God's law" but to fallible human principles.

    Thus, the oath taker can "AFFIRM", or acknowledge, ones role and duty to a secular authority without implying a parallel diminishing of their primary oath to obey "God's law" (as they see it) above all other laws.

    It was a merely a convenient compromise and "work around" to avoid a ticklish perception issue.

    As with most moral and perceptive compromises, it makes no difference at all, except in the eye of the beholder.

  • Amber
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago

    Your point?

    Even if it's not in the "official oath," I think every President has said it, so it might as well be. That's what the people who are suing are upset about. Personally, I think there are more important things we should be focusing on.

    Source(s): atheist
  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    Affirm means to validate, justify, agree with. In your example, it also means to "swear to".

    To answer in the affirmative means to say "yes".

    I can't believe one of the simplest and most common words in the English language is confusing to you.

    Source(s): KAWK: Having been in more courts than I care to admit, I have NEVER been offered a bible or offered a swearing that included "so help me god". Never. The most common form is a simple, straightforward "Do you swear...."
  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    Yes, it means you whole-heartly agree to the statement.

  • 1 decade ago

    I fail to see the relevance of your question.

  • 1 decade ago

    and in religious situations, it means "I agree in the belief"

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    Thanks, Home Theater Peter.

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