The Oath of Allegiance

[elfs]

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.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the Oath of the Allegiance to the United States, as recited by every person seeking to become a citizen of the United States. Or at least, it was.

According to a draft from the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, the oath has been rewritten. Next year it will read:

Solemnly, freely, and without mental reservation, I hereby renounce under oath all allegiance to any foreign state. My fidelity and allegiance from this day forward is to the United States of America. I pledge to support, honor, and be loyal to the United States, its Constitution, and its laws. Where and if lawfully required, I further commit myself to defend the Constitution and laws of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, either by military, noncombatant, or civilian service. This I do solemnly swear, so help me God.

"Where it is lawfully required... ?" Isn't it always lawfully required that we defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic?

As for the music, dude, I am having such a flashback.

Comments

[rapier.livejournal.com]

Well, to be fair, I think you may have quoted it wrong in the second instance. It looks like it says "Where and if lawfully required," which indicates to me that if the person is lawfully required to serve in some capacity, then he or she will. For instance, the US may decide that all able bodied men between the ages of 17 and 50 have to do X. An immigrant woman aged 75 would then not be lawfully required to do X. Just sayin', is all.

I was a notary once

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

And I took an oath to defend the constitution. I feel it still binds me, unfortunately, nobody will let me defend it against its big, nasty enemy, John Ashcroft.

Re: I was a notary once

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Hon, you are defending it, simply by posting that. Keep posting. The best defense we have right now is simply free speech. If we can convince enough sheer numbers of people, it won't take bloodshed.

Not that I'm not prepared to use the Second Amendment if that's what it takes. And gods know I've had an itchy trigger finger for a while now. But I'd rather settle this peacably if we can. Sun Tzu says the best battle is the one that is never fought. And he and many generations of Chinese and other warriors that have followed him are not likely to be wrong.