Qur'an Oath Controversy Of The 110th United States Congress
In mid-November 2006 it was reported that Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress (for Minnesota's 5th congressional district), "will take his oath of office with his hand upon the Qur'an, the Islamic holy book." In reaction to the news, conservative media pundit Dennis Prager criticized the decision in his November 28, 2006 column entitled "America, not Keith Ellison, decides what book a Congressman takes his oath on."
The column attracted national attention from both Ellison and Prager supporters. Presented with the fact that all members of the House swear in (or affirm) en masse without the use of any religious text, and that such works are only used in ceremonial reenactments afterwards, Prager stated "that’s the whole point: it’s exactly because it’s ceremonial that it matters". In response to a wave of criticism, Prager released another column on the topic on December 5, 2006 entitled "A response to my many critics - and a solution".
The controversy became more heated when Rep. Virgil Goode (R - VA) issued a letter to his constituents stating his view that Ellison's decision to use the Qur'an is a threat to "the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America... if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran." The entering of Goode into the controversy caused many other members of Congress to weigh in.
Ellison went on to use the Qur'an owned by Thomas Jefferson for the swearing-in ceremony.
Read more about Qur'an Oath Controversy Of The 110th United States Congress: Constitutional Provisions, Questions On "unbroken Tradition", Prager Rescinds Call For Ellison Not To Serve, Prager Dismisses Tanakh Oaths, Oath Ceremonies of First Buddhists in Congressional History, Prager Calls On Ellison To Bring Bible With Qur'an, Sharia Rather Than Constitution?, Prager's Dec. 27, 2006 Column, Organizational Responses, The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council's Resolution, Minnesotans' Responses, Impact of Rep. Virgil Goode, Ellison's Union Hall Remarks, Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an
Famous quotes containing the words oath, controversy, united, states and/or congress:
“Here I swear, and as I break my oath may ... eternity blast me, here I swear that never will I forgive Christianity! It is the only point on which I allow myself to encourage revenge.... Oh, how I wish I were the Antichrist, that it were mine to crush the Demon; to hurl him to his native Hell never to rise again—I expect to gratify some of this insatiable feeling in Poetry.”
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)
“Ours was a highly activist administration, with a lot of controversy involved ... but I’m not sure that it would be inconsistent with my own political nature to do it differently if I had it to do all over again.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“Why doesn’t the United States take over the monarchy and unite with England? England does have important assets. Naturally the longer you wait, the more they will dwindle. At least you could use it for a summer resort instead of Maine.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)
“The traveler to the United States will do well ... to prepare himself for the class-consciousness of the natives. This differs from the already familiar English version in being more extreme and based more firmly on the conviction that the class to which the speaker belongs is inherently superior to all others.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)
“Our decision about energy will test the character of the American people and the ability of the President and the Congress to govern this nation. This difficult effort will be the “moral equivalent of war,” except that we will be uniting our efforts to build and not to destroy.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)