The Bible as an Ad Prop

"Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil." (Matthew 5:33-37 ESV)

Speaking from the 17th century, Scottish theologian George Gillespie remarked "How small regard is had to the oath of God by men professing the name of God."

This morning's Parade "magazine" (that anemic variety supplement that is inserted into most Sunday paper bundles across the country) contained an add for Henry Rifles that depicts a hand (on a KJV Bible with a promise from the company's president in quotes (shown above). Does this act of laying of a hand or hands on Scripture mean truth without any shadow of a doubt? It's the gestural equivalent of the methinks-thou-dost-protest-too-much "As God is my witness, I swear..."

My questions are simple ones. Why bring God or the Bible into it? Is this product's ad and its president's claim more believable because of the Bible (and what if it were a Koran?)? Beyond the Bible, is there a connection between the president and his company and Christianity? Does this ad mean I could-- and, as a practicing Christian myself, ought to-- purchase my next weapon from a Christian gun dealer? Am I wrong, again, as a practicing Christian, to find the truth motif used in this ad to be nothing more than the use of God's Word as a prop to sell guns (American-made or otherwise)?

I can't recall a television ad in which God's Word (or God Himselves, the Persons of the Trinity) is used to hawk consumer products. But the picture of the hand on the Bible in the Parade ad does elicit that certain church-and-state irony that may still place in courtrooms across the land and at the televised swearing-ins of presidents, Supreme Court justices, etc. How did this tradition, this secular sacrament of sorts, come about anyway? Does a hand on the Bible during an oath really make it any more credible or believable? (Maybe a skosh more sincere in a Puritan sense, I suppose... Franklin D. Roosevelt not only swore on a Bible, but chose 1 Corinthians 13 to recite four times during his oath of office.)

This custom comes to us in this country from England and dates back to at least the 13th century. Says a 2014 article in The New Yorker magazine:

The tradition of using a book during the oath of office is borrowed from the courts, which explains in part why the Bible is the most frequently chosen text. An oath is religious in origin and in essence, yet the paragraph in the Constitution requiring that all officials “be bound by Oath or Affirmation” concludes with the declaration that “no religious test” should be applied to a person taking office. The swearing-in ceremony transforms the oath into a public, secular commitment: a verbal contract between the oath-taker and the nation rather than between an individual and God. But the oath book tips the balance back toward the individual...

The Bible brings personal and communal values into happy alignment, demonstrating that the official’s beliefs accord with the beliefs of three-quarters of American citizens. 

Like the Henry Rifles ad, swearing an oath upon a Bible is meant not only to purport the whole truth and nothing but the truth, but the character, as well, of the taker, be he gun dealer or president-elect. How many Evangelical Right (card-carrying NRA members and open-carry whackos) gun buyers will take their business to Henry Rifles because Henry must be a Christian with an ad like that?

But I don't like it. I don't like this tradition at all. I don't like it because one of these current candidates (who have come together to give Americans the most disgusting, disgraceful, and dysfunctional campaign seasons in 240 years...Trump, most likely... sigh sigh sigh) will no doubt perpetrate this act before God and Man; however, and almost poetically, woe be to the future leader of this country who willfully refuses to use a Bible prop (perhaps for the right reasons) or chooses the Book of Mormon on which to lay a hand-- what will We the People think of him or her then?

I have heard that there were folks of yore who were certain that telling a lie with a hand on the Bible would consign one's soul to hell. It's obvious from what I see in the world around me that this is no longer a worry...

We the People have no need to swear upon God's promises. In the secular world, as in God's Kingdom, one man's promise to another should be final in sealing the deal and should remain unbroken (ideally, in accordance with God's promises). History shows this is not the norm, particularly in matters of politics or business (or, sadly, matrimony). Involving the Bible or God's name in a secular oath of allegiance, office, or truth in any other context may not profoundly profane either...but it's just not right.

Is it?