| Here’s another one of these civic customs. |
| Swearing on the Bible. |
| Do you understand that shit? |
| They tell you to raise your right hand and place your left hand on the Bible. |
| Does this stuff really matter which hand? |
| Does God really give a fuck about details like this? |
| Suppose you put your right hand on the Bible and you raise your left hand, would that count? |
| Or would God say, “Sorry. |
| Wrong hand. |
| Try again.” |
| And why does one hand have to be raised? |
| What is the magic in this gesture? |
| This seems like some sort of a primitive, voodoo, mojo shtick. |
| Why not put your left hand on the Bible and let your right hand hang down by your side? |
| It’s more natural. |
| Or put it in your pocket. |
| Remember what your mother used to say? |
| Don’t put your hands in your pockets. |
| Does she know something that we don’t know? |
| Is this hand shit really important? |
| Well, let’s get back to the Bible, America’s favorite national theatrical prop. |
| Suppose the Bible they hand you to swear on is upside down or backward or both, and you swear to tell the truth on an upside down, backward Bible. |
| Would that count? |
| Suppose the Bible they hand you is an old Bible and half the pages are missing. |
| Suppose all they have is a Chinese Bible in an American court, or a Braille Bible, and you’re not blind. |
| Suppose they hand you an upside down, backward, Chinese, Braille Bible with half the pages missing? |
| At what point does all of this stuff just break down and become just a lot of stupid shit that somebody made up? |
| They fucking made it up, folks. |
| It’s make-believe. |
| It’s make-believe. |
| Now, all right. |
| OK. |
| Let’s leave the Bible aside. |
| We’ll get back to the science fiction reading later. |
| The more important question is what is the big deal about swearing to God in the first place? |
| Why does swearing to God mean you’re going to tell the truth? |
| It wouldn’t affect me. |
| If they said to me, “You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” |
| I’d say yeah. |
| I’ll tell you about as much truth as the people who wrote that fucking Bible. |
| How do you like that, huh? |
| Huh? |
| Swearing on the Bible doesn’t mean anything. |
| It’s kid…swearing to God is kid stuff. |
| Remember when you were a kid? |
| If you told another kid something he didn’t quite believe he’d say, “You swear to God?” |
| I would always say, “Yeah, I swear to God, even if I was lying. |
| Why not? |
| What’s going to happen if I lie? |
| Nothing. |
| Nothing happens if you lie unless you get caught, and that’s a whole different story. |
| Sometimes, that kid would think he was being slick with me and he’d say, “You swear on your mother’s grave?” |
| I’d say, “Yeah, why not?” |
| First of all, my mother was alive. |
| She didn’t have a grave. |
| Second of all, even if she was dead, what’s she going to do, rise from the grave and come and haunt me? |
| Come and haunt me, all because I told a lie to an 8-year-old? |
| Get fucking real, will you? |
| Sometimes, I would say, “I swear on my mother’s tits.” |
| Kids are impressed with things like that. |
| I mean, I don’t care about my mother’s tits either. |
| I didn’t care if they fell off. |
| Fuck her. |
| Not my problem. |
| They’re your tits, ma. |
| You keep an eye on them. |
| Swearing to God doesn’t mean anything. |
| Swearing on the Bible doesn’t mean anything. |
| You know why? |
| Because Bible or no Bible, God or no God, if it suits their purposes, people are going to lie in court. |
| The police do it all the time, all the time. |
| Yes, they do. |
| It’s part of their job to protect, to serve and to commit perjury whenever it supports the state’s case. |
| Swearing on the Bible is just one more way of controlling people and keeping them in line, and it’s one more thing that holds us back as a species. |