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Oliver v. State Tax Commission2/13/2001
in the grand jurors' oaths do not amount to a requirement or an expression of a belief in God. Id. at 19. Doe v. Louisiana Supreme Court, 1992 WL373566, *5 (E.D. La. 1992), rejected a challenge to the phrase "In the year of our Lord" on a law license and notarial commission. The court upheld the use of these phrases as "ceremonial deisms," which the court said "should not be understood as conveying governmental approval of a particular religious belief." Id. at *6.
The state here urges us to adopt the ceremonial deism rationale. But we hesitate to label the phrase "So help me God" as a ceremonial deism. Just as plaintiff Oliver and the Freedom from Religion Foundation find the use of "So Help me God" offensive because of its religiosity, some religious adherents just as fervently believe that an oath is not an oath unless it invokes the name of God. The latter view has support from the dictionary and from history.
Though the government may not require a belief in God, and our institutions are secular, the name of God has always been in our public life, including the solemnization of oaths. At most, the invocation of the name of God in section 137.155.1 is a reminder of the solemnity of the occasion, which each person can interpret in accordance with his or her beliefs. It is indeed an invitation to express a belief in God. But because the option of affirmation is offered, it is equally an invitation not to express such a belief.
The First Amendment requires our laws to be neutral as to religion. Section 137.155 allows a person to "affirm" rather than to "swear." The statute does not require the invocation of God's name, and if Oliver and others of similar beliefs wish to do so, they may delete the reference.
The Missouri Constitution
Oliver and the Freedom from Religion Foundation argue that the Missouri Constitution, in article I, sections 5 to 7, has a greater wall separating church and state and that, whatever the outcome under the First Amendment, the Missouri Constitution makes the reference to God unconstitutional. Oliver and the Freedom from Religion Foundation seem to read our constitution as being hostile to religion. But by text, history, and case law, it is not.
The Missouri Constitution provisions cited by the parties are as follows:
Section 5. Religious freedom--liberty of conscience and belief--limitations. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; that no human authority can control or interfere with the rights of conscience; that no person shall, on account of his religious persuasion or belief, be rendered ineligible to any public office or trust or profit in this state, be disqualified from testifying or serving as a juror, or be molested in his person or estate; but this section shall not be construed to excuse acts of licentiousness, nor to justify practices inconsistent with the good order, peace or safety of the state, or with the rights of others.
Section 6. Practice and support of religion not compulsory--contracts therefor enforceable. That no person can be compelled to erect, support or attend any place or system of worship, or to maintain or support any priest, minister, preacher or teacher of any sect, church, creed or denomination of religion; but if any person shall voluntarily make a contract for any such object, he shall be held to the performance of the same.
Section 7. Public aid for religious purposes--preferences and discriminations on religious grounds. That no money shall ever be taken from the public treasury, directly or indirectly, in aid of any church, sect or denominatio
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