In case you missed it, Keith Ellison of the Minnesota Congressional delegation announced his intention to take the oath of office on a Koran rather than the Bible. Ellison is the first Muslim elected to Congress in our nation’s history.
Dennis Prager has this to say over at Townhall:
Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress, has announced that he will not take his oath of office on the Bible, but on the bible of Islam, the Koran.
He should not be allowed to do so — not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American civilization.
First, it is an act of hubris that perfectly exemplifies multiculturalist activism — my culture trumps America’s culture. What Ellison and his Muslim and leftist supporters are saying is that it is of no consequence what America holds as its holiest book; all that matters is what any individual holds to be his holiest book.
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Of course, Ellison’s defenders argue that Ellison is merely being honest; since he believes in the Koran and not in the Bible, he should be allowed, even encouraged, to put his hand on the book he believes in. But for all of American history, Jews elected to public office have taken their oath on the Bible, even though they do not believe in the New Testament, and the many secular elected officials have not believed in the Old Testament either. Yet those secular officials did not demand to take their oaths of office on, say, the collected works of Voltaire or on a volume of New York Times editorials, writings far more significant to some liberal members of Congress than the Bible. Nor has one Mormon official demanded to put his hand on the Book of Mormon. And it is hard to imagine a scientologist being allowed to take his oath of office on a copy of “Dianetics” by L. Ron Hubbard.
So why are we allowing Keith Ellison to do what no other member of Congress has ever done — choose his own most revered book for his oath?
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When all elected officials take their oaths of office with their hands on the very same book, they all affirm that some unifying value system underlies American civilization. If Keith Ellison is allowed to change that, he will be doing more damage to the unity of America and to the value system that has formed this country than the terrorists of 9-11. It is hard to believe that this is the legacy most Muslim Americans want to bequeath to America. But if it is, it is not only Europe that is in trouble.
Read the rest of Prager’s article at Townhall here.
The oath of office is, of course, a sworn statement to protect and defend the constitution of the United States. I realize it is not an oath to defend the Christian Bible. However, it seems to me that the act of using The Bible recognizes what many in this country now forget. America was founded on primarily Judeo-Christian principles that permeate our government constructs and our culture. An oath taken on The Bible, whether New Testament or Old, is some recognition of our culture and our heritage. Keith Ellison is in some way rejecting our culture by a simple yet meaningful symbolic act.
However, the Constitution does not require an oath on The Bible, nor does it require invoking God’s name, as in “so help me God.” The act of swearing on The Bible, now practically expected of our public servants, is born of tradition rather than law. I am not minimizing traditions — they are important. Historically, the Quakers who were dominant in Pennsylvania refused to take oaths. That was certainly a big deal at the time, as Ellison choosing the Koran is today.
Article IV is crystal clear:
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
So ultimately I think Prager is over the top in his condemnation, but his article gave me considerable pause for reflection. If Prager were Muslim, I’m guessing he’d be reaching for the Koran as well. So is Prager’s real complaint that we have a Muslim in Congress? Is that the real challenge to our culture?
I’m curious what others think.
November 28th, 2006 at 7:03 pm
There is more to this story than what is posted here. I don’t like the idea of this guy getting sworn in using the Koran, not from a religious point of view, but as an American.
Make no mistake about it, Ellison is doing this as an in your face message from the black Muslim movement in the US. Just look at his affiliations with The Nation of Islam, and it’s anti-Semitic and anti-Caucasian leader Lous Farrakhan, andCAIR, an organization of Muslim trouble makers with ties to Hamas and Hezbollah.
I suspect that we will be hearing a lot more from Ellison over the next couple of years, and not much of it will be very good for America, unless you are a Muslim or a Muslim convert looking to thumb your nose at the rest of us. He’ll be the “Jesse Jackson� of the Muslim movement.
November 28th, 2006 at 7:43 pm
“Your comment is awaiting moderation”. What the hell does that mean???
November 28th, 2006 at 8:00 pm
Joe, the spam filters catch a lot of stuff but are fallable. Anything with more than a link or two gets held up. Just look in your dashboard or the askimet area and release it. No biggie.
November 28th, 2006 at 10:30 pm
Of course the guy is against a muslim in congress. Nothing in the constitution says that an office holder must put his hand on a bible or any other book. Nothing about taking an oath requires you to put a hand on a book. And people testifying in court are not sworn in with a bible, at least not in any court that I am aware of, certainly not in federal court.
November 29th, 2006 at 4:23 am
I have no problem with his taking the oath on the Koran. It is an oath, that binds the person himself to do his job and protect the constitution. An oath by a Muslim on the Bible would be meanlingless to him and not as personally binding.
I heard rumors that observant Jews will use only the old testament portion of the Bible. I have some Congressional friends checking this out for me.
I have some very close Muslim friends – they call me sister – I am honored by their friendship. Their faith in God is as deep and tender as any Christian I have met. We have often encouraged each other in our faith and even prayed together. These folks would no more be a part of the fanaticism taken up by the radicals as you or I would. I could not see them taking an oath on a Bible, although they would not be offended to. But why should tehy have to?
November 29th, 2006 at 8:49 am
Very well said, MBT. I wish you had written this piece instead of me!
November 29th, 2006 at 9:30 am
It would be more appropriate for Ellison to take the oath of office with his hand upon the collected works of Karl Marx.
November 30th, 2006 at 2:14 pm
It seems like there is alot of talk going on about this!
There is no “religious test” issue here in my opinion, as “no religious test shall be required as a QUALIFICATION to any office…” Seeing that Ellison ran for office regardless of his religious affiliation and that he was elected shows that Article VI of the Constitution was upheld.
An oath or an affirmation, basically meaning the same thing, taken by our elected officials to protect our country, its laws and its people should be taken seriously by those officials and we, the people. To have, hold or carry the Koran during this type of “swearing in” ceremony would be, to me, a slap in the face to America….AND since the Koran, which is apparently spouted by the terrorists who hate and want to kill the “infidels”, or shout “death to America” while holding this “book”, etc would also appear to be an oxymoron if it is held in “reverence” at a swearing in of a Congressman who is suppose to be taking an oath to PROTECT our COUNTRY FIRST!!
I agree with Joe Citizen, we are sure to see much more from Ellison….I just hope he will be able to balance his “faith” and his Constitutional obligations!!