We are all familiar with “Loyalty Oaths” from a variety of experiences including school, marriage, military, sports, religion, government, and citizenship.
• School: Grade school was my first experience with being required to learn and recite the “Pledge of Allegiance” at the beginning of each school session. Most people don’t realize that the pledge was originally written by a Socialist Baptist Minister. Over the years the pledge has been modified to conform with Supreme Court rulings.
• Marriage: Marriage is another experience that starts with some form of "Loyalty Oath" in various forms from civil services to formal church requirements. According to a study in Springfield, Missouri, the divorce rate for first marriages is 50%. The divorce rate for second marriages is 67% and the divorce rate for third marriages is 74%. Obviously, practice does not make perfect.
• Military: Military units have a variety of loyalty oaths but everyone has to take a loyalty oath to “protect and defend the constitution” when they join the military. The Marine Corps also uses the Latin phrase “Semper Fidelis” which means “Always Faithful”. The official Marine Corps interpretation of this oath is that you will “always” be faithful to “Corps and Country”. In 1963 our Drill Instructor explained to us that “Semper Fidelis” meant “Always Faithful” to “God, Country, Marine Corps”. The “God” part has been removed for various constitutional problems since you swear to defend the constitution when you enter the military and the constitution protects a persons faith in any religion or no religion at all not to mention the separation clause. The last thing any recruit wants to do is enter into a debate over anything.
• Sports: Sports at all levels is another activity where you take a loyalty oath to your school and or your team. In fact before the big game you get down on one knee and re-affirm your commitment to the team and school and of course to God since your coach usually ends up asking God to help you beat the hell out of the other team and of course they are down on one knee with their coach asking the same God to help them beat the hell out of you. So there you have it, the winning team is Gods favorite or he didn’t pay attention to either team. As an atheist, it seems to me that if you are going to pray for something it should be something more substantial than a game, unless of course you have some money on the line.
• Church: Church is another opportunity for you to take a loyalty oath to God and your church. Of course your particular loyalty oath will depend on your individual faith and belief in one or more Gods. As a young boy I was given an opportunity to “come forward” and take my loyalty oath to God and the Baptist Church. Of course people change faith and churches and as such have to take new loyalty oaths or no theist oaths at all.
• Government: Government employees have to take a loyalty oath to protect and defend the constitution. Included in this group are members of congress for their “swearing in” ceremony and of course the military as mentioned earlier. And these government employees take an oath to protect the government against all enemies “Foreign” and “Domestic”. “Foreign” means someone in another country and “Domestic” means you.
• Citizenship: New Citizens are required to take a loyalty oath and swear allegiance to the United States even in the event the United States attacks their country of origin and their “Foreign” family and friends.
Most countries have a “Loyalty Oaths” in some form. During the WWII Germany not only had a national “Loyalty Oath”, they had a specific oath where people were required to swear allegiance to Adolph Hitler. Even terrorist groups have “Loyalty Oaths”. These oaths are based on a variety of beliefs including religion, nationalism, or simply politics and power which of course go hand in hand.
A lot of people take “Loyalty Oaths” much like a “New Years Resolution”. They sometimes start with the best of intentions but later develop a need to re-define the meaning. One look at the marriage statistics mentioned earlier is evidence that a lot of people have re-defined their initial “Loyalty Oath”.
I don’t particularly have a problem per se with “Loyalty Oaths”. If it is used to get everyone on the same page and give people a sense of inclusion in the team so they can be a “team player”. If on the other hand, its used to promote a sense of “Us” against “Them” we only have to look at history to see how that can be abused in politics, and religion only to mention a couple.
