Why in hell are we asked to swear on the bible in a court of law?

Q: Do you swear to tell the truth and the whole truth, so help you God?

A: Yeah, sure. I'll tell you the same amount of truth as those assholes who wrote that fuckin' bible!

George Carlin had a wonderful way of looking at the silliness of our laws and judicial system.

For some great laughs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IRxpjEZveQ

There's never a Bible present.

The oath is administered upon the witness preference and must be administered in the form and manner consistent with the witnesses beliefs. The depictions of the bible and the swearing in is a generalized depiction because most Americans have some affinity with Christian beliefs, but if you chose to take the oath without reference to the bible or god, you most certainly would control the same, and could simply explain to the judge what your preference was in swearing in prior to testimony. Your concerns however become valid where a person who may be a defendant does not want to cause a ruckus and goes along with a standard swearing in procedure which may or may not use the word God, and most certainly in 2014 you will not see a bible during the swearing in of a witness. I have seen half of judges swear people in without the use of the word god.

It's not on a Bible ever. Sorry