In the June 7, 2022, edition of the Herald, Neal Jacobson refutes another letter writer’s assertion that God is not in the U.S. Constitution. Neal, a very nice guy, thought otherwise. Surely God must be in that revered document.

So he searched and searched. He read through Article I, which sets up the Legislative powers of our government. Then Article II, which sets up the Judicial branch. Then Article III, which sets up the executive branch. There he ran across the proscribed President’s Oath of Office. He must have thought surely I’ll find God mentioned there.

Only disappointment did he find, for that oath reads: “Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” What, no “…so help me God”? How can that be?

So, Neal kept reading and reading. Through Articles IV, and V, and VI. Still no mention of God.

Then, voila!, there in Article VII about ratification of the just finished Constitution, the very last of the articles, Neal tells us in his letter to the editor, “[T]he Constitution mentions God.”

Well, not quite. He fails to tell the readers what he found was only a date: “…done in Convention by Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven….” Now, that’s what I believe merchandisers call “bait and switch.”

Naughty, naughty, Neal, you devil.

Gary Dielman

Baker City