You swear on your honor to tell the truth... Not all court systems add the "So help you god."

I had this problem few years ago , and nobody told me that I had the option to skip the oath to gods . Been never in American court until that day and having no clue what I am doing ( jury duty ), I was pulling my hair and I was pissed off like no other . I had to stand there and play w rules until break x , then I approached security and asked to talk to whoever in charge of bible oaths . I was raised atheist and I have studied bibles and other religions holy books only for university / credit , I can't possibly tell u how upset I was to see this in a court . I ve seen it only in the movies up to that time , and as ignorant as I am , I thought that crap was ditched long ago . I was wrong !

There is no requirement to swear to anyone's imaginary friend. You can affirm that you'll tell the truth without a bible or the "so help me, invisible sky man."

And if you research studies that have been done; you'll find nonbelievers are much more honest than the delusional. My theory is because we don't have some easy path to forgiveness and/or don't practice by deceiving ourselves.

You can simply affirm with no mention of any god...if you take the oath and you don't believe it or lie, then it is worse...then it could be invalid...just let the courts know ahead of time and they will not make a spectacle of it...no one will notice...

I haven’t testified in court in years, but have and do serve in positions of “public trust” that require an “oath of office” in California and on a US federal level. I’ve always been given the option of affirmation, but my colleagues who choose to swear, still aren’t asked to reference the bible or any religious belief. (Full disclosure: I used to swear a lot when I was a sailor.)

I hope all can appreciate this....years ago as an active member of the local police department, I was in court as a witness to the arrest and charge of a man for a serious charge. My turn to testify, I raised my right hand, did not place my left on the bible. Judge asked if there was a problem, I explained my being an atheist but assured him the testimony I gave was exactly the same as if I had touched the book of which I had not trust nor faith in it's content....the charged persons attorney objected, until said, in front of the judge..." remember, you are one of two persons in this courtroom who DO NOT SWEAR TO TELL THE TRUTH....Judge let me testify on just my right hand raised to the truth.

At least in some states they can choose to "affirm" instead.

Just saying that the same laws that protect a person’s right to believe and follow a religion also protects you from being forced to adhere to one.

The so help me god bit was dropped in the 1960s her in England, I believe it is still optional in Northern Ireland and some parts of Scotland.
However you don't even have to swear on scripture or to a deity, just swear on your oath to tell the truth, it is equally binding in he eyes of the law and still makes you liable to perjury should you be found to be deliberately misleading.

I work with court appointed clients and go to court with them every week. When they're sworn in each time I always think about that and it bothers me.

You swear an affirmation to tell the truth.
No bible or god involved.

It’s just a formality anyone can say those words and still lie in court.