The Humanist President's Oath

Notes on the Humanist President's oath in Ada Palmer's Terra Ignota

Published 13 January 2019

Updated 08 May 2019

The Humanist President’s Oath of Office

From Chapter The Second, “Human Dignity,” of The Will to Battle:

I, ____, hereby undertake upon my human dignity that I will execute with faith and vigor the office of President of the Humanist Hive.

I swear to obey and preserve the Constitution and the Laws of the Humanist Hive, to sustain the hive's integrity and independence, and to promote all that will advance it and oppose all that may harm it. I will foster the Pursuit of Excellence of all Humanists, safeguard their rights and freedoms, and safeguard too the Olympic Games, the Olympic Spirit, and all who carry it.

To these ends I will employ all the means which the current Constitution of the Humanists places at my disposal, and when the disposition of the vote changes that Constitution, I will serve its new form with equal vigor. I will faithfully discharge these duties without bias or regard to any previous or current personal affiliation with any other Hive, strat, team, or institution.

I further swear to support the principles and reforms of Thomas Carlyle, and to maintain the Carlyle Compromise and all other treaties that continue to serve and safeguard Humanist welfare. I swear to preserve in secret the knowledge granted by my office which must be kept secret.

Should I at any time break this oath of office, or in any way betray the Members' trust, I shall submit myself to punishment by the laws of the Hive.

This is my solem oath.

The Member President delivered additional comments after delivering this oath. And while the oath they recited in English is no doubt binding, the official text of the oath is undoubtedly in the Humanist Hive’s native Spanish. Mycroft Canner, the author of this book, did not indicate that the oath was delivered in Spanish.

By way of comparison, read the oath of office of the President of the United States, specified in Article II of that Constitution:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

The Humanist oath checks these American boxes, but it expands upon them greatly. The Hive language of the Humanists is Spanish, and the Spanish President’s oath has aspects seen in the Humanist President’s oath:

I swear, under my conscience and honor, to faithfully execute the duties of the office of President of the Government with loyalty to the King, obey and enforce the Constitution as the main law of the State, and preserve in secret the deliberations of the Council of Ministers.

Wikipedia’s translation of the Oath of office of President Rodríguez Zapatero, given before the king 17 April 2004.

And there are other oaths to consider. The Olympics have gone through many different Olympic oaths. The 1920 Summer Olympic Oath, used in following years:

We swear. We will take part in the Olympic Games in a spirit of chivalry, for the honour of our country and for the glory of sport.

The 1961 revision:

In the name of all competitors, I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules that govern them, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honour of our teams.

The 2000 Athletes’ Oath:

In the name of all competitors, I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules that govern them, committing ourselves to a sport without doping and without drugs, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams.

The 2000 Officials’ Oath:

In the name of all the judges and officials, I promise that we shall officiate in these Olympic Games with complete impartiality, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them in the true spirit of sportsmanship.

The 2000 Coaches’ Oath:

In the name of all the coaches and other members of the athletes’ entourage, I promise that we shall commit ourselves to ensuring that the spirit of sportsmanship and fair play is fully adhered to and upheld in accordance with the fundamental principles of Olympism

The 2018 Unified Oath:

In the name of the athletes.
In the name of all judges.
In the name of all the coaches and officials.
We promise to take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules and in the spirit of fair play. We all commit ourselves to sport without doping and cheating. We do this, for the glory of sport, for the honour of our teams and in respect for the Fundamental Principles of Olympism.

Returning now to the checklist comparing the Humanist President’s Oath to these modern-day oaths:

I have not checked off the item “safeguard all who carry the Olympic Spirit” because neither the Olympic Oaths nor the U.S. oath require the protection of people.

Execute the office with faith: In the Humanist, U.S., and Spanish oaths.
Execute the office with vigor: Only in the Humanist Oath.
Obey the Constitution and Laws: In the Humanist, U.S., Spanish, and Olympic oaths, in various forms appropriate to their contexts.
Preserve the Constitution and Laws: In the Humanist and U.S. oaths.
Promote all that will advance the Hive: Only in the Humanist oath.
Oppose all that may harm the Hive: Only in the Humanist oath.; Many would say that protecting the United States is implicit in the U.S. President's oath. More, I shall not say.
Foster the Pursuit of Excellence of all countrymen: Explicitly in the Humanist Oath.; The 2018 Unified Olympic Oath reads we do this, for the glory of the sport, which could be interpreted as a commitment to further participants in the sport via the sport itself, for the sport does not exist without the players.; The 2018 Unified Olympic Oath also references the Principles of Olympism, which through several Principles make clear that Olympism includes the pursuit of excellence through sport.
Safeguard the rights and freedoms of all countrymen: Explicitly in the Humanist Oath.; Implicit in the U.S. President's oath, as the Constitution is the mechanism by which the governed people and states grant power to the federal government, and by preserving the Constitution's restrictions upon the government the President preserves those rights. But it is only implicit.
Safeguard the Olympic Games: Explicitly in the Humanist oath, implicitly in the various Olympic oaths.
Safeguard the Olympic Spirit: Explicitly in the Humanist oath and the various revisions of Olympic oaths.
Safeguard all who carry the Olympic Spirit: Only in the Humanist Oath; it's probably there because the Humanist Hive formed from the merger of the One Big Party and Olympian Hives.
To these ends, employ all the means which the current Constitution places at the President's disposal: Explicitly in the Humanist oath.; Implicit in the U.S. President's oath to preserve the Constitution.; Perhaps implicit in the Spanish President's oath to execute the duties of office of President.
Serve the new form of the Constitution when the Constitution changes: This is unique to the Humanist Hive's mode of government. By vote of the members, the Constitution may change from presidential to parliamentary to anything else. As the government changes, the role of President may no longer be present, but the person who served in that office may still find themself in government. Here, they pledge to continue service, even if they lose what power they had formerly been granted.
Discharge these duties without bias or regard to any previous or current personal affiliation: Explicit in the Humanist oath.; Implicit in the U.S. oath, by incorporation of the Constitution's emoluments clauses in Article I Section 9 and Article II Section 1.; Implicit in the Olympic oaths that reference the Principles of Olympism, through both the principles of fair play and the Fifth Principle: Recognising that sport occurs within the framework of society, sports organisations within the Olympic Movement shall have the rights and obligations of autonomy, which include freely establishing and controlling the rules of sport, determining the structure and governance of their organisations, enjoying the right of elections free from any outside influence and the responsibility for ensuring that principles of good governance be applied.
Support the principles and reforms of [the founder of the post-national Hive system]: Explicitly in the Humanist oath, which is the only one in a setting where Hives exist.; Analogously, present in the United States oath through the Constitution's commitment to the principles established by its founders, and in the Spanish oath through recognition of the Constitution as the highest law of the land.
Maintain the [treaties which set up the post-national Hive system]: Explicitly in the Humanist oath, which is the only one in a setting where Hives exist.; Analogously, present in the United States oath through the Constitution's delegation of treatymaking power to the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate.
Maintain all other treaties that continue to serve and safeguard Humanist welfare: Explicitly in the Humanist oath.; Analogously, present in the United States oath through the Constitution's delegation of treatymaking power to the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate.
Preserve in secret the knowledge granted by my office which must be kept secret: Present in the Humanist and Spanish oaths of office.; This is not implied in the U.S. president's oath; the president is vested with authority to classify and declassify secrets, and their sole authority is necessary to declassify something.
Submit myself to punishment by the laws of the Hive if I break the oath or betray the Hive Members' trust: This is presumed to be present in all three organizations' oaths.

So, yeah. There’s overlap in most cases, with some items not implied by other oaths solely present in the Humanist Oath. The least-interesting such items are the last two points, which feel like they were added to the Humanist President’s Oath in order to narratively drive home the burdens that the new Humanist president is shouldering as a result of the O.S. Conspiracy coming to light.

More interesting are the clauses to “promote all that will advance the Hive” and to “foster the Pursuit of Excellence of all Humanists.” The Humanist Hive values human excellence, and that shows here.

Most interesting is the clause about continuing to serve the new form of the Constitution when the Constitution changes. The Humanist Hive has a flexible democracy, wherein members vote for other members. If one member achieves a clear lead over all other members, they’re President, and the runner-ups form a senate to balance their power. If there are two or three members who are close in votes, they become co-consuls or a triumvirate. As the vote balance spreads across more members, you get forms of government that put less power in the hands of individuals, such as parliamentary democracies. This flexibility is what makes the Humanist mode of government uniqe, compared to the other Hives in the Universal Free Alliance.