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Huh? Romney could swear by a bag of potato chips if chips were important to him; it wouldn’t mean we’d all have to drop to our knees for the God of Potatoes. It matters not what anyone else thinks about the swearing object, just that it is something important to the one taking the oath and therefore more likely than other objects to induce him to keep it.

Huh?

"It matters not..."????????????????????????????

So...you're weirdly claiming that there's not millions of vulnerable kids out there...elementary-school kids...some high school kids...who might be taught by Romney's bully pulpit that the Book of Mormon is the "word of God"...and that a certain % of them will have their Mormon road moment carved out with that as the genesis?

Tell you what, then...let's be consistent...let's get other government officials -- your local teachers for example -- and get them to bring the Quran into your local classrooms and present that as a sacred holy book of God before vulnerable third thru sixth graders, eh?

How would like your kids, grandkids, relatives, and neighbors all to have such introductions to the Quran by your govt teachers?

Furthermore, if Obama won...and having won the second term, he could begin to "remove his mask," what if Obama elected to swear on the Quran?

You wouldn't have any issues with that?

You would actually think that thousands of FREEPERs and millions of conservatives wouldn't have any issue with that?

Pathetic...poorly thought-out thought processes there...because there's no way you can be consistent in this!!!!!!!!

“So...you’re weirdly claiming that there’s not millions of vulnerable kids out there...elementary-school kids...some high school kids...who might be taught by Romney’s bully pulpit that the Book of Mormon is the ‘word of God’...and that a certain % of them will have their Mormon road moment carved out with that as the genesis?”

Not so weird, really, considering people have sworn on the Koran without the sky falling. Not that Mormonism is as legitimate as Islam(if you go purely by numbers), nor that other oaths are as publicized as the president’s. But whatever legitimacy Mormonism would gain from the Romney presidency would arise from just that: Romney being president. Not on what prop he used in the ceremony.

“Tell you what, then...let’s be consistent...let’s get other government officials — your local teachers for example — and get them to bring the Quran into your local classrooms and present that as a sacred holy book of God before vulnerable third thru sixth graders, eh?”

You’re carrying yourself away. That is a frivolous example, and I don’t need to honor it with response. Suffice to say Romney swearing on the book of Mormon would not imply, let alone explicitly declare, that it is a holy book. All it would mean is Romney thinks it to be so, which you could infer from him being a Mormon. It would say nothing about it being equivalent to the Bible, though some could walk away with that impression.

But like I said, I’d think simply electing Romney itself would grant all the legitimacy to Mormonism it could expect. The swearing in ceremony is neither here nor there, as it is not about swearing on something with objective value but with value to the swearer. If I ask you to swear on your mother’s grave, for instance, it would still be meaningful to me because it’s meaningful to you, though I don’t care a whit more about your dead mother than any random dead person.

The oath of office ceremony is different, you may say, because the ritual is for everyone, not merely the new president. Well, if it’s so dang important that the Bible be involved, don’t elect a Mormon.

“Furthermore, if Obama won...and having won the second term, he could begin to ‘remove his mask,’ what if Obama elected to swear on the Quran?”

If that happened, then people would know he lied, and many a conspiracy theorist would die of happiness.

“You wouldn’t have any issues with that?”

Yes, but I don’t see the relevance. I would have issues with it because, like I said, it would mean Obama is a bold-faced liar. I wouldn’t have a problem with it being a Koran that he sweared on as such. I wouldn’t have a problem with a Muslim who wasn’t Obama being elected as such, and would fully expect them to swear on the Koran rather than the Bible.

“Pathetic...poorly thought-out thought processes there...because there’s no way you can be consistent in this!!!!!!!!”

What’s the consistency problem? If it’s a bad thing for Obama to have been a secret Muslim and for schools to officially declare the Koran a holy book I cannot allow Romney to swear on the book of Mormon? That does not follow. You are off your meds.