In “At swearing in, congressman wants to carry Koran. Outrage ensues,” Jane Lampman in The Christian Science Monitor (thanks to Long-time reader #6,004) discusses the controversy that has arisen over Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison’s apparent plan to be sworn in on the Qur’an, and Dennis Prager’s protest:
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.”
Prager brought this up with me when I was on his show recently. I wasn’t surprised, of course, since this controversy has arisen before. But several things need to be clarified.
In the first place, the controversy is essentially over a photo-op. Congessmen aren’t sworn in on a book. They line up and raise their right hands and are sworn in collectively. Then, if they choose to do so, they can wait on a long line to get a photo-op with the Speaker, in which the Speaker and the Congressman raise their hands, and someone holds a book — the Bible, but it could just as well be anything else, as it is not a swearing-in but just a photo-op — between them.
That said, this is an issue that is going to have to be dealt with eventually. And at that time, I hope there will be some who have the courage to point out that no American official should be taking an oath on the Qur’an, since — as we have been pointing out here for over three years now — there are so many elements of traditional and mainstream Islam that are at variance with our system of government, our Constitution, and our entire way of life. But since that is blandly denied and unexamined by the mainstream media and government officials, it is much more likely that Qur’anic oath-taking will be allowed without any discussion at all. And Sharia principles will continue to advance in the United States, most often under the guise of freedom of religion, civil rights, and “diversity” initiatives.
Keith Ellison, meanwhile, is moving into an office in the Longworth House Office Building right next door to that of Colorado’s intelligent, perceptive, outspoken and courageous Tom Tancredo. Interesting choice. I wonder if Ellison is interested in the comings and goings in Tancredo’s office.