As I previously stated and which I stand behind is the fact that a person need not beleive in God, but they must agree to swear before God as being in a Christian nation the majority take very seriously the responsibilities of office & beleive that a person should stand before God and swear oath to both state and country.
As explained numerous times on this thread, the Constitution doesn't require any Congressman to swear anything before God. All it requires is that he takes an oath (to whom is unspecified) OR affirmation (which has nothing to do with God) that they will support the Constitution. In fact,
Article VI specifically says "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States".
And as I noted in Post 51, Congressmen are sworn in en masse by the Speaker on the House Floor, and in 2005, most appear to have just raised their right hand while being sworn in. I didn't see any Bibles in C-SPAN's shot of the House Floor during the swearing in ceremony.
since when is an oath before God a 'religious test'? As I said, the person need not even beleive in God to make the oath, as long as he is in agreement with upholding hte will of the poeple that he swear before God. And as stated before, the person may not beleive in God, but will still be held accountable by God regardless of His beleifs, which we in America take seriously & feel should be required for swearing oath. you're on shaky ground claiming that swearing oath is a 'religious test' an oath isn't in any way a test of one's beleif, but a requirement of office- it doesn't force anyone to believe anything