usa, citizenship, oathsI have a been a United States permanent resident for several years and am intending to apply for United States citizenship as soon as I become eligible. For reasons that should be clear, given my membership of this discussion forum, I really don’t want to have to recite the standard naturalization oath given its reference to a deity (see http://www.immihelp.com/citizenship/naturalization-oath-ceremony.html). It is possible to recite a modified oath that omits the reference to God:
8 C.F.R. 337.1 provides that the phrase “so help me God” is optional and that the words “on oath” can be substituted with “and solemnly affirm”. Also, if the prospective citizen can prove such commitments are in violation with his or her religion, the lines “that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law; that I will perform non-combatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by law” are sometimes omitted.
Proving that this is in violation of my religion given that I have no religion seems problematic. In practice, has anybody experienced any difficulties using a modified oath of naturalization?
You may be misreading it. I see two parts.
The proof only applies to the military component.
Assuming that you want to both omit the reference to god and the pledge to bear arms, maybe try taking it in two parts:
For the god side of the oath, that seems to be optional, so I don’t see an issue with getting out of that.
Regarding the “bear arms” angle, maybe drop the religious aspect of it and try to prepare evidence that you’re a pacifist. Maybe write a letter explaining your pacifism and how that does not mean you are not loyal to the country, it is simply not in line with your world view. Try to get people to sign something saying that you are dedicated to the country yet do not agree with violence and war (and make a case for open dialogue being a better approach, perhaps?).
Pip.
At my swearing-in ceremony I was in a room with close to 100 others who were also swearing in. I just didn’t say the “so help me god” part and I didn’t say “under god” when we recited the pledge of allegiance after being sworn in. Nobody noticed and nobody cared.
If any Christians give you a hard time and you feel like fighting about it, just have them read (from their holy book) the chapters of James 5 and Matthew 5. In each, there are explicit commands not to swear oaths.
A particular precedent, legally speaking, in the US refers to application of conscientious objector status:
[T]he test of belief “in a relation to a Supreme Being” [in a law providing for conscientious objector status from military service] is whether a given belief that is sincere and meaningful occupies a place in the life of its possessor parallel to that filled by the orthodox belief in God ...
In other words, if you hold any sincere and meaningful belief that motivates your actions the way a creed does, that is parallel to the court. There is no legal requirement that that belief be something religiously motivated or seated, or be the same as a religion; it need only have a parallel function.
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