<story><title>New NASA Director Swears Oath on Carl Sagan’s ‘Pale Blue Dot’ Instead of Bible</title><url>https://www.independent.co.uk/space/nasa-director-carl-sagan-oath-b2317698.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>nonethewiser</author><text>But what does meaning have to do with it? Your marriage certificate and car title have meaning. But if the people being sworn in don’t view their documents as having some authority over their promise then what is the point? It’s equivalent to no document in that regard.&lt;p&gt;It really doesnt make much sense unless you’re using a Bible, Quran, etc.&lt;p&gt;Edit: Here is the crux:&lt;p&gt;God holds you accountable, or at least is believed to do so, by nature. Is the nature of the values symbolized in Dr. Seuss or Sagans book similar? Do those promising on them expect divine justice from the principles of science or fun word play with kids?</text></item><item><author>highwaylights</author><text>To follow your argument here, perhaps the person in question believes the Pale Blue Dot to be  more meaningful than a legal document.  I certainly do - it’s a wonderful book that absolutely captures Carl Sagan’s sense of wonder for the universe, which to me seems like exactly what you should want from a NASA director.&lt;p&gt;Most importantly, it also sends a strong message to the staff within NASA about how the new director views them and their work given how political appointments have become.</text></item><item><author>tescocles</author><text>Is there any actual strict requirement that you have to swear over a document of some kind?&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;d have thought swearing over the bible is a stand-in for swearing &amp;quot;before God&amp;quot;, and that God would ultimately be your reckoner should you break your oath.&lt;p&gt;If you don&amp;#x27;t have that meaning behind the oath, what is the point in using a book at all unless it&amp;#x27;s something meaningful like the constitution of your country, as another poster has used as an example, or some other relevant document that is there as physical representation of something abstract?&lt;p&gt;If I, not being religious, were being sworn in as the head of NASA, I&amp;#x27;d find it much more poignant to swear over the US constitution, or on nothing at all.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>pigsty</author><text>A person who doesn’t believe in religion being sworn in on a religious book is probably just annoyed. They’re not going to feel loyal to it.&lt;p&gt;Sworn statements as a whole are just entirely symbolic and don’t really guarantee loyalty or honesty, but if someone who doesn’t believe rejects a religious text that they disbelieve and instead choose something that has meaning and value to them, it’s better in the symbolic sense. A scientist swearing in on a scientific text that’s meaningful to them and that also addresses human morality makes as much sense and symbolically reflects their devotion to their mission as a Bible to a devout Christian.</text></comment>
<story><title>New NASA Director Swears Oath on Carl Sagan’s ‘Pale Blue Dot’ Instead of Bible</title><url>https://www.independent.co.uk/space/nasa-director-carl-sagan-oath-b2317698.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>nonethewiser</author><text>But what does meaning have to do with it? Your marriage certificate and car title have meaning. But if the people being sworn in don’t view their documents as having some authority over their promise then what is the point? It’s equivalent to no document in that regard.&lt;p&gt;It really doesnt make much sense unless you’re using a Bible, Quran, etc.&lt;p&gt;Edit: Here is the crux:&lt;p&gt;God holds you accountable, or at least is believed to do so, by nature. Is the nature of the values symbolized in Dr. Seuss or Sagans book similar? Do those promising on them expect divine justice from the principles of science or fun word play with kids?</text></item><item><author>highwaylights</author><text>To follow your argument here, perhaps the person in question believes the Pale Blue Dot to be  more meaningful than a legal document.  I certainly do - it’s a wonderful book that absolutely captures Carl Sagan’s sense of wonder for the universe, which to me seems like exactly what you should want from a NASA director.&lt;p&gt;Most importantly, it also sends a strong message to the staff within NASA about how the new director views them and their work given how political appointments have become.</text></item><item><author>tescocles</author><text>Is there any actual strict requirement that you have to swear over a document of some kind?&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;d have thought swearing over the bible is a stand-in for swearing &amp;quot;before God&amp;quot;, and that God would ultimately be your reckoner should you break your oath.&lt;p&gt;If you don&amp;#x27;t have that meaning behind the oath, what is the point in using a book at all unless it&amp;#x27;s something meaningful like the constitution of your country, as another poster has used as an example, or some other relevant document that is there as physical representation of something abstract?&lt;p&gt;If I, not being religious, were being sworn in as the head of NASA, I&amp;#x27;d find it much more poignant to swear over the US constitution, or on nothing at all.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>seanhunter</author><text>That&amp;#x27;s absurd.&lt;p&gt;If God exists then God holds you accountable for your actions whether you swear or not, whether you use a Bible, Carl Sagan, Dr Seuss or a copy of TCP&amp;#x2F;IP Illustrated by W Richard Stevens.&lt;p&gt;If God doesn&amp;#x27;t exist then it clearly doesn&amp;#x27;t matter what document you swear on at all, because the document is just a signal of values in that case.&lt;p&gt;Either way you are legally bound by the oath you have made and if you broke it the authorities would be able to enforce that against you to the extent enabled by law regardless of what document you use or indeed no document at all.&lt;p&gt;The document is (like the ceremony itself) just an artifact that is part of the ritual which is a public observance of a binding promise. In that context, choosing one that has personal meaning makes total sense, whether it is a religious text or something else.</text></comment>