Why cant you raise your left hand when you are sworn in?

Answer 1

In medieval times convicted criminals would sometimes have their convictions marked on the palm side of their hand (on the fat part of the thumb) with a letter to designate their criminal history.

Therefore, when raising the right hand to be sworn, their criminal history would be there for everyone to see.

Answer 2

You see...Back in ancient times, long before America was America. sometime around the 14th or 15th century when court systems came to be, the aristocrats would run the courts. When a person was persecuted, they would have a brand burned onto their right hand.

When a person would come into court, the judge (or whatever that person was called then) would ask the defendent to raise his right hand in order for the judge to see if his hand was branded or not.

The brands would represent the crime that person committed. For instance, a "T" would be branded if a person had stolen...T for thief. or an "M" would be branded for murder and so forth.

This is one of the oldest traditions we have in any system in America.

*information can be credited to the history channel

Answer 3

The ministry in the right hand of control of Jesus are an annointed ministry - set apart by the sanctifying blood of Jesus and the annointing of the Holy Ghost. In the Old Testament the right hand of the High Priest (who then was Aaron and his sons after him) was annointed with the blood of the sacrifice of consecration. Today our spiritual High Priest is Jesus, and he has the blood of the sacrifice also in his right hand. Today, Jesus is also the lamb that was sacrificed for us, so it is his blood (in his own right hand) that is also on the door of the true ministry's heart. They are blood washed servants of the Lord, that is why they are in his right hand of control.

"And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram. And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it, and put it upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot." (Lev 8:22-23)

The ministry that is in Jesus' hand will guide the people right so they need not fall into sin and the divisions of so-called "Christian" religion:

"Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself. So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved." (Psalm 80:17-19)

It takes Jesus to keep the ministry in a good way and they must stay in his right hand of control to stay right:

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." (Isaiah 41:10) (see also Psalm 139:10)

"My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me." ( Psalm 63:8 )

"According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness." (Psalm 48:10)

It is a matter of where the heart of the ministry is at. A true ministry's heart and love for Jesus is a carefully kept treasure, but a false ministry will not be careful about where their heart and love goes:

"Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor. A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left." (Eccl 10:1-2)

Answer 4

because most of the people in the world are right handed

Answer:

... and because of this... it's the right hand with which most people work and accomplish their works. A man's works, being the measure and reputation by which people know him. The symbolism in swearing with the right hand is that the one doing the swearing vows to dedicate all his efforts to accomplishing said vow.

Answer 5

In the United States and some other countries, it is customary to raise the right hand while swearing an oath, whether or not the left hand is laid on a Bible or other text. This custom has been explained with reference to medieval practices of branding palms. However the practice is first referred to in the Old Testament ("Their mouths speak untruth; their right hands are raised in lying oaths", Psalm 144:8). In England the common form of court oath is to swear with the right hand on The Bible, though alternatives are available.

There is confusion between oaths and other statements or promises. The current Olympic Oath, for instance, is really a pledge and not properly an oath since there is only a "promise" and no appeal to a sacred witness. Oaths are also confused with vows, but really, a vow is a special kind of oath. Reference: Wikipedia

Answer 6

You put your left hand on the bible because it is the hand closer to your heart. When making a promise with your left hand on it is a symbol of how a heart is pure and innocent and is HONEST . While promising on the Bible , you are willing to make HONEST decisions with purity and innocence.

Answer 7

Historically, being right-handed was considered the norm. In fact, there was often prejudice against left-handed people, and words like "sinister" (which means scary, not to be trusted) reflect that-- this word comes from the Latin word meaning left, or the left side. Since being right-handed was considered normal, one would take an oath with the right hand. (Ironically, President Obama is one of a number of presidents who were left-handed, but they still took the oath with their right hand, as is the custom.)

Answer 8

Tradition. Opening the hand is a symbolic gesture and shows you are not hiding anything.