BigOl64 wrote on Jul 2
nd, 2013 at 2:02pm:
longweekend58 wrote on Jul 2
nd, 2013 at 1:48pm:
Dsmithy70 wrote on Jul 2
nd, 2013 at 1:38pm:
I believe the whole point of swearing on a bible is to "somehow" promise "God" you will tell the truth, do your best etc.
Your not promising any old one but God.
Seeing both the Koran and the bible are "God's" word, just brought to you by different reporters, whats the fuss?
I'm pretty sure Muslims swear on the Koran in court, where's your outrage with that?
try using a Bible in on of their courts and see how it works out!!
anyhow, the question was if it was legal or not. Apparently it is.
Or the law has just been ignored to meet a political outcome, not the first time this has happened.The ACT oaths and affirmations Act is pretty adamant it is a bible to used and nothing else, so if this is the piece of legislation needed to be complied with, then oath is pretty much null and void.
But I doubt whether legal compliance matters much to a politician since the howard era.
Did you read alinta's post #28??
Advice from the Attorney-General’s Department has confirmed that members making the oath of allegiance are not bound to use the authorised version of the Bible:The oath of allegiance need not necessarily be made on the authorised version of the Bible, although this has been the common practice. A Member may recite the oath while holding another form of Christian holy book,
or, in respect of a non-Christian faith, a book or work of such a nature. The essential requirement is that every Member taking an oath should take it in a manner which affects his or her conscience regardless of whether a holy book is used or not.[44]
In September 2010, Ed Husic, Member for Chifley (NSW), became the first Muslim to be sworn into the federal parliament. The Age reported that:
For the first time an MP, Labor’s Ed Husic, took the oath while holding a Koran rather than a Bible. The Koran belonged to his parents, immigrants from Bosnia.
http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_L...