land of the free and the tolerant.......

[Guest guest]

At swearing in, congressman wants to carry Koran. Outrage ensues.

By Jane Lampman | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

 

Keith Ellison hasn't even started his new job, and he's already under fire.

When America's first Muslim congressman, a Democrat from Minnesota, let it be

known he will carry a Koran to his swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 4, conservative

pundit Dennis Prager called it " an act of hubris ... that undermines American

civilization. "

 

In a web column, the talk-show host said, " 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. "

 

The column has sparked a brouhaha on talk radio, in the blogosphere, and in

newspapers

across the country. The congressman's office has been inundated with angry

e-mails.

 

The US Constitution says nothing about swearing on the Bible. But some

commentators

insist the US is a Christian nation, and the proposed act goes against its

values

and tradition. To others, the uproar shows an ignorance of the Constitution and

the principle of religious freedom. Some people worry that it reflects growing

anti-Muslim

sentiment in the country.

 

Constitution is clear

To legal experts, no room for confusion exists. " A congressman having to swear

an oath on a scripture that he doesn't believe in was unconstitutional from

the very moment the Constitution was signed, " says Kevin Hasson, head of the

Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. " It would be beyond irony to violate the

Constitution in the very act of requiring a congressman to swear his loyalty to

uphold the Constitution. "

 

In Congress, newly elected representatives do not put their left hands on any

book.

They raise their right hands, and are sworn in together as the speaker of the

House

administers the oath of office. Some do carry a book, according to House

historians,

and some choose to photograph a private swearing-in afterward with their hand on

the Bible. One senator is known to have carried an expanded Bible that included

the Book of Mormon.

 

The Constitution says: " The senators and representatives ... 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. "

 

Some confusion may come from the long-standing tradition of presidents taking

the

oath with a hand on the Bible. But this is a choice and matter of custom, as is

the phrase, " so help me God. " President John Quincy Adams took the oath

on a law book including the Constitution. President Theodore Roosevelt didn't

use a book.

 

" The United States is not a Christian state or even a generically religious

state, " says Derek Davis, a church-state expert at the University of Mary

Hardin-Baylor

in Belton, Texas. " We've worked hard for 200 years plus to uphold a principle

of religious freedom for all citizens. "

 

In allowing for an affirmation in place of an oath, the Constitution also makes

room for atheists or agnostics.

 

Prager, who is Jewish, has come under fire from fellow Jews. The Anti-Defamation

League issued a statement calling his argument " intolerant, misinformed, and

downright un-American. " Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action

Center of Reform Judaism, says the text used should be that which " is most

sacred to the individual taking the oath. To ask ... otherwise is not only

disrespectful

to the person and to an entire religious tradition, but is asking the public

official

to be hypocritical. "

 

The Council for American-Islamic Relations has called for Prager to be dropped

from

his recent presidential appointment to the Holocaust Memorial Council. " He

is trying to marginalize Muslims by making it seem as though any practice of

American

Muslims is different or 'other' than what America stands for, " says

Arsalan Iftikhar, CAIR's legal counsel.

 

What the courts have decided

US courts have dealt with the issue in various ways. In a 1997 federal terrorism

case, a Washington, D.C., judge permitted witnesses to swear to Allah. In North

Carolina in 2005, a woman was not allowed to take the oath on the Koran when

testifying.

The American Civil Liberties Union has sued, and the case is in appeal.

 

At least 17 state constitutions explicitly prohibit discrimination against

witnesses

or jurors on religious grounds. Some allow people to swear or affirm " under

the pains and penalties of perjury, " omitting " so help me God. " Judges

generally have jurisdiction over how oaths are administered in their courts. Mr.

Iftikhar says that some judges have allowed the use of the Koran.

 

The purpose of the court " is not to promote Christianity or Judaism or Islam

or any other religion, " Dr. Davis emphasizes. " It's to elicit truth

from witnesses. "

 

Mr. Ellison's office did not provide the Monitor with a statement, but his

incoming

chief of staff, Kari Moe, has said the issue is straightforward. " Religious

freedom is a tradition in our country, " she told the Associated Press.

 

For his part, Prager has posted a new column on the townhall.com website in

response

to the criticism. In a phone interview, he says he agrees that religious freedom

does allow Ellison to use whatever book he likes.

 

" But I'm afraid we are becoming a diverse, secular society without any

roots, and this is symbolically an example of that, " he says. " The Bible

is the repository of our values, not the Constitution ... and I'm asking him

to honor that and include the Bible along with the Koran. "

 

 

 

As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances,

there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in

such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest

we become unwitting victims of the darkness.

William O. Douglas