what would happen if.........

i saw this on a film the other night and it made me think...



when in court , when they ask you to swear to god to tell the truth etc, you said no i do not swear to god to tell the truth!!!

contempt of court

would go straight to jail

I believe US courts permit you to swear a different sort of oath if you\'re an atheist.  I\'m pretty sure I witnessed this when I was on jury duty here in Los Angeles last year.  I don\'t remember the exact wording, but the judge offered the option.

what about if you say, i you wont tell the truth butyoull say what you saw....but not sure if its the truth

Originally posted by kopking
what about if you say, i you wont tell the truth butyoull say what you saw....but not sure if its the truth

in that case they wouldnt even have you testify.

You\'re talking about two different kinds of "truth."  The oath is intended to allow legal retaliation in the event that you knowingly lie while giving evidence.  When they make you swear "to tell the truth" they\'re just making sure you don\'t lie.

The way you used the word "truth" was in an abstract form.  The "truth" about what actually happened at a certain time and place is for the jury to decide, based on the evidence.  It\'s not relevant for a witness to state that "they won\'t tell the truth because they don\'t know what the real truth is."  A witness is sworn to report what they saw if they\'re a witness, or what they know to be true based on experience if they\'re an expert witness.

If you tried to say what you wrote, the judge would straighten you out quickly.  Judges are used to dealing with dumb laymen.  

As with other questions during the proceedings, that is also one that you do not have to answer if you believe in buddah..allah..or no god.

BTW mm..it isnt contempt and usually when some says something worthy of contempt, they usually get a warning first, unless what they said/did was too outrageous.

Actually, luckee, contempt covers a lot of areas.  It just means you don\'t recognize the authority or position of the court.

Show up in tattered jeans and a ripped t-shirt, you could be cited for contempt.
Ignore a direct directive from a judge, contempt (don\'t ask that again, answer the question, etc).
Refuse the due process of law (refuse to swear - that\'s what the non-religious \'I swear that I\'m telling the truth\' one is for, refuse to co-operate with your lawyer, refuse to participate in jury pooling).

Just to further the choice point, when you work for the federal government in Canada, you have to give an oral oath of loyalty to Canada, under the ruling Queen Mother, and God.  They do, however, have a non-religious version (which I took).  It\'s really just a formality.

Originally posted by FatalXception
Actually, luckee, contempt covers a lot of areas.  It just means you don\'t recognize the authority or position of the court.

Show up in tattered jeans and a ripped t-shirt, you could be cited for contempt.
Ignore a direct directive from a judge, contempt (don\'t ask that again, answer the question, etc).
Refuse the due process of law (refuse to swear - that\'s what the non-religious \'I swear that I\'m telling the truth\' one is for, refuse to co-operate with your lawyer, refuse to participate in jury pooling).

Just to further the choice point, when you work for the federal government in Canada, you have to give an oral oath of loyalty to Canada, under the ruling Queen Mother, and God.  They do, however, have a non-religious version (which I took).  It\'s really just a formality.

which was my point..one doesnt have to swear to god. like I said

Damn!  That\'s true..... my bad :shy:

Originally posted by kopking
i saw this on a film the other night and it made me think...



when in court , when they ask you to swear to god to tell the truth etc, you said no i do not swear to god to tell the truth!!!

By all that is holy man, what persuaded you to post this thread?

It’s obvious that if you decline to swear by God or the Bible due to religious beliefs you will be permitted to simply say I will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

If any one wonders why anybody might decline from this, here is a verse from the Bible:

Matthew 5:34
But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God\'s throne;

So as you can see, any one of religious beliefs may decline to swear by anything.