Oaths

The oath is the antithesis of lies and deception. It is constructed as the “gold standard” of truth. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, an oath is “a solemn or formal declaration invoking God (or a god, or other object of reverence) as witness to the truth of a statement, or to the binding nature of a promise or undertaking; an act of making such a declaration.” An oath makes a promise inviolable by linking it to the actor's most sacred loyalties. The basic structure is that a speaker swears, taking an oath confirming the truth of some assertion of fact by connecting it to a core value through language such as “as my witness” or “so help me.” The earliest reference to an oath is found in Beowulf; the device is found in many other literary works, including Charles Dickens's Dombey and Son (1848): “But I could take my oath he said …”

As a matter of philosophy, the oath is a representation of speech act theory. The core premise of this theory is that, under the proper conditions, to say is to do. The classic examples are saying “I do” at the front of a church, which means that you are married, or saying “I bet” under the right conditions when someone else responds. “You're on” means that a wager has been made, and at the end of a contest money is going to change hands. The core notion here is that talking is commitment. An oath is a very powerful example of that commitment.

The notion of a promise underlies much of social organization. Individuals need to be able to depend on one another's word to function as a society. In law, the promise takes the form of a contract, which binds two parties to mutually defined actions and specifies penalties for failure to comply. The oath is the premier form of a contract; individuals give their word, backed by their devotion to a sacred object or relationship, that they are speaking the truth.

Anything humankind can construct, however, it can also pervert. So oaths can be broken, or oaths themselves can be used for antisocial purposes. The former case, when it happens in court, can result in charges of perjury or obstruction of justice, in which serious criminal penalties result from conviction. The North Carolina General Statutes define perjury this way: “If any person shall willfully and corruptly commit perjury, on his oath or affirmation, in any suit, controversy, matter or cause, depending in any of the courts of the State … every person so offending shall be punished as a Class F felon.” The presumptive sentence for someone with no prior convictions is 13 to 16 months. The legal system takes seriously the need for honest testimony under oath.

The Mafia and other fraternal forms of organized crime are said to promote a particular sort of [Page 730]oath: Omerta, or the code of silence. Under these rules, Mafiosi are never to cooperate with law enforcement or any other form of authority, even in naming the individuals who attempted to kill them in a daylight attack. Under this approach, honor requires organizational members to take revenge for themselves through the mechanism of the vendetta but never to involve agents of the state. This mechanism, too, is a sacred vow, though it is oriented in antisocial ways. As with other oaths, it is a valued mechanism for preserving the disciplinary tenets of an institution.

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