Reply #102: He's taking an oath to protect the constitution, and setting himself personally responsible to [View All]

[merwin]

the God that he believes in to uphold the constitution.

A good page that sums up what the "so help me god" part means:
"In simple form, an oath is a promise. More particularly, an oath or promise is simply an agreement entered into between one person and another whereby the one taking the oath (1) explicitly or implicitly appeals to God to witness and sanction what he has said or committed himself to, and (2) calls God to judge and avenge His name if what he said is false or what he committed to do never comes to pass."

As his duty is to uphold the constitution, which does include separation of church and state, he is holding HIMSELF personally responsible to God to separate church and state.

Or am I reading something wrong?