Example: [Collected via e-mail, 2006]
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A first for America ...The Koran replaces the Bible at swearing-in oath
What book will America base it's values on, the Bible or the Koran? Please take a moment to read the following TownHall.com column by Dennis Prager, who is a Jew. After reading the column, please forward it to your friends and family. America, Not Keith Ellison, decides what book a congressman takes his oath on 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. [Rest of article here.] |
Origins: In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. When Ellison took office in January 2007, he became the first Muslim member of Congress.
In November 2006, some Americans took offense at Ellison's announcement that he planned to utilize the Quran rather than the Bible at the upcoming Congressional
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While the general basis of the controversy is real, editorials like the one appearing in TownHall.com erred in maintaining that Ellison would be sworn into Congress by taking an oath with his hand upon the Quran. Actually, no Bibles or other religious texts are used during the
When newly elected members of Congress raise their right hands to take the oath of office in January, they won't be placing their left hands on the Bible or any other religious text.
During official swearing-in ceremonies, newly elected members don't place their hand on any book. However, individual members may choose to carry a sacred text.
"Some members carry a Bible. You don't actually put your hand on a Bible. I can't see how anyone would object to carrying a Qur'an," said Senate historian Don Ritchie.
In Congress, the House speaker administers the oath to members en masse on the House floor. It's up to individual members if they want to hold a religious text, said Fred Beuttler, House deputy historian.
First-time members are more likely to carry a sacred text or have their family and religious leader present for a staged ceremony in the speaker's or their own office, Beuttler said.
Accordingly, although Ellison was not technically sworn in with the Quran, after the official swearing-in ceremony he posed for photographs with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, both of them posed with their hands upon a copy of the Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson:
During official swearing-in ceremonies, newly elected members don't place their hand on any book. However, individual members may choose to carry a sacred text.
"Some members carry a Bible. You don't actually put your hand on a Bible. I can't see how anyone would object to carrying a Qur'an," said Senate historian Don Ritchie.
In Congress, the House speaker administers the oath to members en masse on the House floor. It's up to individual members if they want to hold a religious text, said Fred Beuttler, House deputy historian.
First-time members are more likely to carry a sacred text or have their family and religious leader present for a staged ceremony in the speaker's or their own office, Beuttler said.
A rebuttal to Dennis Prager's editorial written by UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh was published by the National Review.
Last updated: 7 January 2008
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Sources:
Averill, Brady and Steven Thomma. "Swearing-In Doesn't Go by the Book." [Minneapolis] Star Tribune. 1 December 2006. Frommer, Frederic J. "Congressman Faulted for Quran at Oath." Los Angeles Times. 1 December 2006. Volokh, Eugene. "Oh Say, Can You Swear on a Koran?" National Review Online. 29 November 2006.