Keith Ellison Wants To Swear His Oath On The Koran
In a country that prides itself on freedom of religion, should the first elected Muslim Congressman be allowed to swear his oath on the book of his own religion? Its caused quite a storm around the blogosphere.
Dennis Prager takes a against it:
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.
Forgive me, but America should not give a hoot what Keith Ellison’s favorite book is. Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible. If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don’t serve in Congress. In your personal life, we will fight for your right to prefer any other book. We will even fight for your right to publish cartoons mocking our Bible. But, Mr. Ellison, America, not you, decides on what book its public servants take their oath.
Some of the purists who see themselves as Libertarians today need to have it pointed out to them that, as a group, they’ve done very little to build America into the great nation it has become. Whether they like it or not, Christan values and thought have done far more for America than their theoretical construct of a pure libertarian society has ever done. Increasingly, they’re as pretentious and self-serving as the extreme Left. And many of the precedents and principles they would point to in our history were undertaken by individuals well-grounded in Christian thought and values with no conception of anything else holding sway within our culture.
That there isn’t a national outcry over Ellison’s decision only tells you how far this nation has been pulled from its roots and left empty without much of a soul. The Left and extreme Libertarian wings aren’t going to be satisfied until there is nothing left that means anything at all when it comes to values. And when that happens, they’ll have a nation that amounts to and stands for the very same thing – nothing, nothing at all.
Allah Pundit on the other side:
Long story short: if the oath is a way of impressing upon the swearer the seriousness of his duties then it’s stupid to have him swear on a book he doesn’t regard with the utmost seriousness. If the oath is a way of demanding allegiance to America’s Judeo-Christian heritage then it’s a violation of the Constitution’s “religious test” clause.
I could care less what book he swears on as long as he keeps his oath. How meaningful would it be for him to swear an oath on a book for which he holds no faith in? Might as well get him to swear on a stack of comic books. On the other hand, I think he knew he was poking a hornet’s nest in a culture war when he announced this. Does it open the door for a satanist to swear on the satanic bible? Well, only if we elect a satanist to office. Does it open up the debate for every day citizens swearing oaths in court to do so on the book of their choice? Well, a man is only as good as his word. This is one of the rare times I side with libertarians and the left. No matter what pile of paper, holy or not, someone swears on, they can still lie. I say judge Mr. Ellison on his faults, not his religion. This may or may not have been done to cause debate and change our culture. It is a rare, individual case. I say let the controversy die where it is. If we are talking about changing tradition, lets not forget one of our oldest traditions…freedom of religion.
I don’t think freedom of religion ends just because you become an elected official. I can’t defend City Counsil meetings opening with Christian prayers when the ACLU attacks them, and change my tune when the religion in argument is changed.
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Posted by Stop The ACLU Special Contributor on November 29, 2006 5:19 pm
» Filed Under 1st Amendment, News
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5 Responses to “Keith Ellison Wants To Swear His Oath On The Koran”
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Syndicate Me
Most definitely. I would even take it a step further and say you don’t even need a stack of papers. If a man has morals and ethics, his word is enough. If he doesn’t, no symbolic act will stop him anyways.
Agreed. In fact, I’m very happy any time that I see an elected official stay true to his beliefs on any subject.
I would just caution you to be careful when comparing a group action with an individual action.
I believe most City Counsil meeting prayers are lead by an individual and are left voluntary to all others involved.
True, but when it happens during a group activity that one is expected to attend regularly, it ceases to be a purely individual matter.
But, we’ll have plenty of time to hash it out next time a concrete example comes up. No need to to haggle over hypotheticals.
“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. “ Quoted by Jay
This is not a cultural issue and it is deceptive to make it one. This is a religious tolerance issue. The question is whether or not Ellison should be allowed to exercise his free expression of religion. The government should not be compelled to purchase a Koran because Ellison’s religion has insignificant numbers of adherents in Congress. Even if a person looked at it as a cultural issue the United States culture is about religious tolerance.
I see that is Jay‘s point..
This whole think about Mr. Ellison taking the oath on the Koran is baloney.
Members of Congress don’t take the oath by placing their hand on a holy book. They stand up and raise their hand as the speaker reads the oath. A “good book” is not used.
This rumor smells a lot like rightwing baloney because it’s their blogs and websites that are spreading it.