Resolution to amend SGA oath of office fails

On April 6, SGA voted against the resolution that would have included “so help me God” at the end of their oath of of?ce. The resolution needed a two-thirds majority to pass, but with 11 votes for and 12 votes against the change, the resolution was unsuccessful.

SGA Senator Trey Smith, who proposed the resolution, argued when he came to of?ce he “was surprised” the oath of of?ce didn’t include the sentence “so help me God” since all formal oaths of of?ce in the United States include the phrase.

“It won’t make sense not being there,” Smith said. “It supports the principles I believe in.”

One of the biggest arguments in favor of passing the resolution, supported by Smith and other senators, was that this sentence is placed at the end of the of?ce oath on the national level. Those in support of the resolution believe it is a tradition that has been in place since the U.S. Constitution’s inception and SGA should incorporate the phrase.

However, there is not a consistent standard in public universities’ governmental organizations’ oaths, as the President Pro Tempore, Andrew Whittaker, pointed out.

Sen. Katie Dunn suggested making the proposed addition optional for everyone.

“Even if we are in a heavily Christian society, there are people who don’t agree in these beliefs, so it is not our responsibility to make people say (so help me God) if they don’t believe in it,” Dunn said.

Sen. Jay Parker agreed with her opinion.

“Our personal beliefs don’t have place in what we are doing as a governmental association,” Parker said.

The proposed amendment failed to pass, but did raise an intense debate in the room confronting issues such as freedom of religion and American Christian traditions. Georgia College students defended these two issues in different ways during the discussion.

Mary Bess Parks, a senior mass communication major, strongly supported Smith’s resolution.

“Our constitution states ‘In God We Trust,’” Parks said. “From the very becoming, our nation was founded under God. I absolutely believe it should be in the SGA oath. Those who don’t want to say it don’t have to be in SGA. Just like we give an oath with our right hands on the Bible. We are founded under God.”

However, senior sociology major Abigail Wigington believes SGA will not promote freedom of religion if they force senators to say “so help me God” at the end of the oath.

“I don’t think it should be there… people should be free to practice their own beliefs, and if their beliefs don’t involve a God then they should be free to exercise that,” Wigington said. “Not all traditions are worthy of keeping.”

Posted by Marta Pascual Caballero on Apr 14 2011. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.