Everyone in a Greek organization took an oath of some type when they decided to join their organization. Typically the oaths were about upholding the principles and goals of our organizations and vowing to always remain loyal to our organization for the rest of our life. In my specific organization I took multiple oaths before I came a full fledged member; they were the Crescent Chant and the Sigma Creed. I can not what was said in the oaths because they are considered secret information of the fraternity but basically they were statements in which I declared that I would remain faithful to my organization and uphold the principles created by our founders.
Oaths are used outside of Greek Life and can be found everywhere in the world. People take oaths when they are married, when they are in court, and even the president takes an oath. The purpose of an oath is to make a person swear to remain honest and loyal to whatever they are becoming apart of. Unfortunately, oaths are not taken as seriously as they used to be; divorce rates are skyrocketing, presidents are being impeached for perjury, and more “letter wearers are entering Greek organizations.
Why are oaths not taken as seriously as they used to be? They used to be one of the most important ways to show loyalty. Has spoken word lost its power or are people in today’s society simply less loyal. These are all questions that need to be addressed because if one can trust a person when they take an oath to something how is it possible to trust anyone? More importantly how can we hold people accountable if swearing to be faithful does not mean anything to them?
I enjoyed reading your post about what oath is. It is clear that taking that specific oath to join your respective fraternity truly means a lot.
ReplyDeleteI think those are good questions that you raised at the end. I'm actually kind of curious if spoken word has lost its power in today's world. It does seem as though people speak without thought, but since I wasn't around back in the good-old-days, I have no way of knowing if it is worse than before.
ReplyDeleteBut I do agree that people probably feel a lessened since of familial loyalty to one another now. Even within the blood family relationships, there is less emphasis on loyalty to your relatives and more emphasis on carving out your own path.
So. I guess what I'm saying is I agree? People take oaths less seriously because relationships with others aren't emphasized in a selfless way anymore - it is all about who can get you where, not pride, loyalty, and accountability.