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Everyone seems to be going ape-shit crazy because Representative-elect Keith Ellison plans to take his oath of office using Thomas Jefferson’s copy of the Koran, instead of a Bible.
The first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress, attacked for planning to use the Koran at his swearing-in instead of a Bible, will use a copy of the Muslim holy book once owned by Thomas Jefferson, an official said on Wednesday.
Representative-elect Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat, requested the 18th century copy of the Koran for the unofficial part of his swearing in on Thursday, according to Mark Dimunation, chief of rare books and special collections at the Library of Congress in Washington.
Many people across the blogosphere have been quick to point out violent references in the Koran and historical references to Muslims who have committed violent acts. They want us to believe, because of their references, that Rep.-elect Ellison must also be evil.
While I too have a serious problem with him using the Koran, I also know how easy it is to present your case when you pick and choose which passages, and which history, you quote for your argument. But the true nature of Islam is not the issue at hand.
The issue at hand is that the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress plans to use a Koran for his swearing-in ceremony and people are outraged. Why? Are they outraged because he is Muslim? Are they outraged because he plans to use the holy book of his own religion? Or… Are they outraged that he was elected to office in the first place?
In my opinion, no matter what the reason for the outrage, people are losing sight of what really matters. It’s easy to lose focus when others are beating the “Islam is evil” drum so hard, but what matters here is Mr. Ellison’s religious freedom.
Ellison, originally from Detroit (not some Mid-East country as some pundits would like you to believe), is a 42 year-old father, husband, lawyer, former state legislator, and community advocate. And yes, he is a Muslim. More importantly though, he was elected by the people of the 5th District of Minnesota as their new representative in Congress. If the people who elected him don’t have a problem with his religion, why should we? The U.S. House of Representatives is supposed to represent the people, whether they are Christian, Muslim, Buddists, or Jews.
Our country was founded on personal freedoms, religious freedom being one of them.
The First Amendment to the Constitution says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”
Many of those who came to America, so many years ago, did so to pursue religious freedom. As a people, we are free to practice any religion we choose. America was founded on the principle of religious tolerance, and that principle is one of the cornerstones of our country’s foundation, although lately people seem to be forgetting that fact.
Whether it’s convenient at the time or not, every American is free to practice their religion openly and publicly and it would be unconstitutional to require Mr. Ellison to use a Bible at his swearing in ceremony, because it would infringe on his religious freedom.
The Constitution does not specify any book be used when taking an oath of office, in fact it does not specify an oath of office for anyone but the President, although Article VI does state that members of Congress shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support the constitution.
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.
As long as Mr. Ellison swears to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and bears true faith and allegiance to the same, does it really matter which book he places his hand upon?
What would people have done if Joe Lieberman wanted to take his oath using the Torah, rather than the Bible? What would they have done if Harry Reid took his using the Book of Mormon? Will people scream as loudly if Hank Johnson decides to use Buddhist scriptures when he is sworn in? That’s right. Hank Johnson, the man who just defeated Cynthia McKinney in Georgia’s 4th District, is a practicing Buddhist.
You’re stunned aren’t you? I bet you had no idea. Take a deep breath.
The “Islam is evil” drum is beating so hard that no one noticed the fact that Mr. Johnson and Mazie Hirono from Hawaii, are the first Buddhists to serve in the United States Congress.
Our country is diverse. That’s one thing that makes America great. We celebrate our diversity.
Well, we used to, before the drums started beating and in our haste to fight back, we began to lose sight of the very freedoms we value so much.
That’s so sad. The very thing this country was based on in the first place is being questioned because he wants to use the Koran in his swearing in ceremony.
Some of the people in this country are pathetic. It makes me sick to my stomach. The intolerance in this country has gotten to all time high.
Comment by Sodapop on Jan 4th, 2007 @ 22:44