A Promise Is a Promise

romises are a big deal to me. I grew up in a family where agreements were always kept. Not doing so didn’t seem much of an option– that’s just how things are supposed to work. I never had any occasion to doubt either parent’s promises.

I recall — but I don’t recall just how old I was — discovering, upon reviewing my life, that I HAD NEVER BROKEN A PROMISE.

I liked seeing myself that way, and so from then on I have made it a point to keep EVERY PROMISE I make. For one thing, I don’t make many. I might forget to follow through on “I’ll empty the dishwasher while you’re gone.” But that’s not a promise: a promise is a more solemn thing. “I hereby promise…” When I say “promise,” that means that it’s a commitment I take most seriously.

To keep my record clean, I am also careful about just what it is I promise. In the movies, when a father promises to be there for his kid’s birthday, one KNOWS that this promise will NOT be kept. But if the reason the father wasn’t there was something beyond his control — say, he was hit by a truck — that shouldn’t count as a “broken promise.” What he should have promised is some form of “if it’s in my ability to be there, I’ll be there.” Forgetting is breaking a promise. Getting hit by a truck is not. So I never give a truck — or any other agent of fate — an opening to prevent me from fulfilling my promise.

I also want for the people in my life to be reliable in the same way, when there’s a need for keeping faith with one’s word. My wife, April Moore, was voted by her high school class “Most Dependable.” She doesn’t think much of winning that category, but I would much rather have April’s Dependability in my life than whatever would have been required for her to have been voted “Most Likely to Succeed.”

Our culture treats promises as a big deal– especially the blue ribbon promises of the solemn vow and the sworn oath. The stated intention (“Yeah, I’ll empty the dishwasher”) is one thing. “I promise” elevates the commitment. But making a VOW, and SWEARING AN OATH, makes the commitment as powerful as it can be made.

The marriage vows are the essential moment in a wedding. And whether the commitment is made “in the sight of God” or sworn with one’s hand on the Bible, we bring in the heaviest of available ropes to tie the commitment down.

And it is that kind of OATH that our system of government requires of those doing “the people’s business.” Every member of Congress solemnly swears to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” No one gets entrusted with the power the people elected to give them without making that commitment.

The Founders of our nation required THAT ONE PROMISE because they understood that preserving the constitutional order was the essential thing on which all other good things would depend.

Which is part of what makes this such a painful time to be an American. That oath is solemn, its meaning is clear, and equally clear is how wantonly it has been betrayed by virtually an entire major American party at a time when we’re witnessing a comprehensive assault on the Constitution altogether unprecedented in our history. A mere sampling:

• A President tears down the East Wing of the White House to make “the people’s house” more to his liking;
• He uses the coercive power of government to punish people and institutions for speech he dislikes.
• He takes the nation into a war of choice with no congressional authorization or even consultation.
• He consistently disregards the limits to his powers, and even defies court orders.

It would be hard to imagine a Presidency from whom the Constitution was more in need of protection and defense. But virtually without exception, the congressional Republicans ignore their oath and instead do that President’s bidding.

One wonders what those Republicans are thinking when they take that oath. Do the words mean anything to them—like “So help me, God”?

Which brings us to another of those mysteries regarding the people who support this oath-breaking political party. What are Republican voters thinking when they vote for people who treat so solemn an oath as though it means nothing?

Many of those voters are people for whom an oath should have special meaning. They believe in the Bible on which the hand is placed. They believe in the God whose help is invoked. They understand that swearing an oath is not just saying some words. It is giving your word in the most solemn way our culture knows how to provide.

So how can they keep voting for people who take that oath, and then behave as though it means nothing?

I would have thought the Shenandoah Valley conservatives I knew would understand something that I learned in my own family long ago:

A PROMISE IS A PROMISE.