A comprehensive reading of the Bible reveals that the majority of it, excluding some books of the Apocrypha and most of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, are racist and evil from the first page to the last page.
So? What's your point?
Yet, the average American is expected to hold it in high esteem, even to the point placing one's hand on it in court and swearing to tell the truth.
Everybody's a hypocrite. Americans especially. They don't do the Bible swearing in court anymore because the Bible doesn't mean what it used to to most of the people in those places.
That is complete opposite to what the Jesus character said. He said that one should never swear any oaths at all.
Jesus and James were advising against the frivolous oath taking that had become an unfortunate habit of the Jewish people. Making an oath by the heavens, earth, and Jerusalem as a sort of collateral which they had no real authority over. It was, Jesus and James were pointing out, more significant to be honest and truthful in all matters so that it wasn't necessary to establish every trivial detail by a frivolous oath, undermining not only your integrity but those things that belonged to Jehovah God or his appointed king. (Matthew 5:34-37; James 5:12 Also see Matthew 23:16-22)
Jesus wasn’t prohibiting the taking of an oath as is evident by his giving answer without objection to being placed under oath before the high priest at his own trial. (Matthew 26:63-64)
An oath is a statement stressing the truthfulness of something someone promises to do or not to do. There are two Hebrew words translated as oath; shevuah, which is an oath or sworn statement. Shava is a related term that means “swear” and comes from the same root as the Hebrew word for “seven,” so swear originally meant to be under the influence of seven things. (Genesis 21:27-32) Beer-sheba means “well of the oath” or “well of seven.” (Genesis 26:28-33). Shevuah doesn’t contain the connotation of a curse or hardship placed upon the person making the oath should he not fulfill it.
The other Hebrew word translated as oath is alah, meaning “oath, cursing” or “oath of obligation.” (Genesis 24:41; 26:28)
The Greek horkos, “oath” and omnyo, “swear” are both found in James 5:12. The Greek anathematizo means to bind with a curse. (Acts 23:12, 14, 21)
That just shows that the control freaks have never read the fairytale.
Hmmm. Interesting accusatory conclusion. Not very accurate, though, is it.