http://www.minnesotamonitor.com/showDia ... iaryId=857

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/11/30/kor ... r-ellison/

Right-Wing Radio Host Fabricates Controversy To Attack First Muslim Congressman

Right-wing radio host Dennis Prager wrote a column earlier this week claiming that Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim elected to Congress, had “announced that he will not take his oath of office on the Bible, but on the bible of Islam, the Koran.” Prager claimed this “act undermines American civilization,” and compared it to being sworn in with a copy of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.”

Bloggers on the left and right — including Taylor Marsh, Steven Bennen, Eugene Volokh, Stephen Bainbridge — have torn apart Prager’s argument on constitutional grounds.

But Prager’s column is based on one other glaring error: the swearing-in ceremony for the House of Representatives never includes a religious book. The Office of the House Clerk confirmed to ThinkProgress that the swearing-in ceremony consists only of the Members raising their right hands and swearing to uphold the Constitution. The Clerk spokesperson said neither the Christian Bible, nor any other religious text, had ever been used in an official capacity during the ceremony. (Occassionally, Members pose for symbolic photo-ops with their hand on a Bible.)

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/12/0 ... e-go-away/

so, did he swear on the Koran or not? It sounds like he didn't.

He's going to in January

Why would he swear on the Koran if no one has ever sworn on any religious text?

Recipe for Something out of Nothing

1 idiot
A pinch of ignorance
1/4 cup of street cred

dipshit ashcroft swore on a stackof bibles...look where that got us

the dude can swear on what he holds dear


for me ... i swear on my pj vinyl

I have no idea

Well, if he does swear on a Koran, then he's wagging his religion around as aggregiously as any Republican, which I continue to think is stupid and bad for the country.

Obviously

It seems to me that this guy is just TRYING to be a pain in the ass. He knows it's controversial. There is no other reason to do it.

I thought that Representatives did swear on the Bible, and this guy was just choosing to do otherwise. By that token I could care less what he swears on, unlike Prager. But now, since they don't swear on anything at all...well that's another issue entirely.

why would people want him to swear on the bible if the bible doesn't mean anything to him? wouldn't you want him to swear on a book that he actually wants to abide by?

Yeah. I wouldn't want him swearing on the Bible if it doesn't mean anything to him. That's like asking him to swear on a phone book.

But considering nobody gets sworn in with religious texts, why does he feel the need to do so with the Koran considering the times we live in?

I think I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he thought people were sworn in on Bibles when he said that. If we learn otherwise, I'll stand by my statement above.

You are generous.

I can't believe that in incoming Congressman wouldn't know something like that, or at least check up on it before making this statement.

Could he have been looking forward to when he gets sworn in as president?

I wouldn't imagine that the U.S wouldn't have any presidential quality Korans for swearing in. To get a shiny Koran with any history behind it we'd have to borrow it from elsewhere, which would be unamerican. I personally would much rather have people swear on the constitution, or a PJ vinyl, as whats-its-face said.

I always thought that Congressmen did swear in on a Bible, but I'm not sure either. The president does though, right? I never understood that. If you are the leader of this country, why don't you swear on the Constitution, after all, that is what you are supposed to defend and uphold.

1) The President, nor any other official, is bound to swear on a Bible or any other religious object. Several presidents have not used a Bible at their inaugurations, and teh only reason it's done at all is because George Washington requested it be done at his first inauguration.

2) The only thing this story shows at all is that this conservative talk show host is a virulent bigot that the world would be a better place without. And by that, I mean he should be killed.