Rewritten Citizenship Oath Will Get Another Revision

The New York Times/AP ^ | 8/14/03 | staff

[ppaul]

Some groups supported the simpler language, saying it would encourage citizenship.

Sure. That's just what we need - more wimpy "citizens" unwilling to stand up for America, unwilling to defend the United States.

[Ronin]

This is another case of the government spending time, energy and money on fixing something that was not broken to begin with.

The citizenship oath was fine in it's original form. It is dignified and deeply meaningful. It should be left alone.

[knarf]

I suppose it might be alright except ...

"Solemnly, freely and without any mental reservation, I hereby renounce all allegiance to any foreign state."

could mean just what it says ... a state.

And most immigrants come from a country.

Now, if the hitlerybwitch gets a governership of NY or something like that,

Naaaahhhh ... she'd never let any one out to swear against her.

[Eastbound]

Here's the oath as it has been administered.

_____________________________________________

Oath of Allegiance

I HEREBY DECLARE, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;

That I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic;

That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;

That I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law;

That I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law;

That I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion:

SO HELP ME GOD.

____________________________________________

Anyone know where the full version of the proposed new oath is?

[ppaul]

FYI

[Chad Fairbanks]

The citizenship oath was fine in it's original form. It is dignified and deeply meaningful. It should be left alone.

I concur.

[Aeronaut]

Now that's a good oath as it stands. You wanna be a citizen? Then do like natural born citizens have to do. AND LET'S SEAL OUR BORDERS TO THOSE WHO WON'T!

[boris]

During the Clinton years, there were rumors of mass swearings-in, conducted in sports stadiums, in Spanish...as part of Al Gore's "Citizenship 2000".

I never was able to substantiate the rumors but would not be surprised if they were true.

--Boris

[Grut]

Some people find the expression "So help me God" objectionable. My suggestion is that we keep the oath as it is except for this last line, which would be replaced with:

"And I will keep my word as well as any politician."

[RonF]

The citizenship oath was fine in it's original form. It is dignified and deeply meaningful. It should be left alone.

Having read it downthread, I'm thinking it's not a bad idea to change that one line with "princes and potentates" into modern English. But it should clearly state that the person swearing in as a new citizen should give all his allegiance to the United States of America, and none to any other country (I'd stick the word "country" in there).

Let's see. Here's the original:

I HEREBY DECLARE, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;

Yeah, I like the language too, but I can see where someone who has mastered English only to a minimal point might need something a bit less obscure. How about:

"I hereby declare, on oath and on my honor, that I completely renounce and reject all allegiance or obligation to any other country or state. I also renounce and reject any allegiance or obligation to any leader of any country, any state, or any other group. I swear that I will give my full and only allegiance to the United States of America."

Followed by the rest of the oath as written.

[itsahoot]

I never was able to substantiate the rumors

I think they backed out, got too hot for them when word got out.

[Eastbound]

Sounds good to me. So what's the penalty for violation of oath?

[sheltonmac]

Do they at least require immigrants to say the oath in English?

[Grut]

So what's the penalty for violation of oath?

Punish 'em exactly the same way pols are punished! ;^)

[Sloth]

I have no problem with updating the language, but they should no remove the 'bear arms' part.

[Republicus2001]

does this verbage apply to the sitting Lt. Gov Bustamonte who supports the VIOLENT OVERTHROW OF CALIFORNIA?

[B Knotts]

Great, so now we're going to have princes and potentates prancing all over the place. :-)

[MistyCA]

I don't think that's such a good idea. What about allegiance to Saddam or Bin Laden? Those are the types of things we expect to protect ourselves from now days, aren't they? Allegiance to Prince or potentate is completely appropriate, and if they don't know what it means, there is always a dictionary!

[MistyCA]

Are you kidding? In California they aren't even requiring an immigrant to take their driving tests in English. I know of one lady who was illiterate in either English or her own language (Spanish) so the test was given to her orally. I know another Spanish lady who speaks no English and was sent what she needed to go down to get her citizenship documents. There is no way she would have been able to speak that oath in English.

[MistyCA]

I am not so sure about that. I think the person who I know who got her citizenship documents did it in a large auditorium in LA with many other people. This was during the Clinton administration right prior to an election. California is pathetic! Except for my kids, I don't ever want to go back there.