-
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:- Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
- Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
- Access to private conversations with other members.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
America, Not Keith Ellison, decides what book a congressman takes his oath on
- Thread starter McBell
- Start date
Djamila said:What a horrid man, the author of that article.
If swearing on the Bible was working out so well for America and its politicians, maybe he'd have a leg to stand on.
Dennis Prager is the character who wrote the text quoted below. He seems to confuse his so-called values with the values of the United States of America. He forgets that the American people have never as a nation validated the Bible as a holy book. Our founding fathers were deists and therefore non-believers in the Bible. He disregards the fact that within the first amendment to the U. S. Constitution is found the prohibition, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". He does not understand that the first amendment thereby establishes a wall of separation between between Church and State. This wall of separation between Church and State does not in any way depend on who said "wall of separation". It instead is a logical consequence of the language in the first amendment.
I certainly have no respect for the views of Dennis Prager, but who is he to say what one and only book interests the United States of America . Who appointed him as the spokesman for the United States of America?
"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.
...
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...."
</IMG>
MaddLlama
Obstructor of justice
It amuses me how far people have run with this story.
Officers of Congress are not required to swear on any book, be it the dictionary or the Bible. Sometimes they pose for photos with a book, but it is not part of the swear in process. All they are required to do is raise thier right hand, and swear to uphold the Constitution. And that's straight from the horses mouth - the House Clerk.
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/11/30/koran-bible-prager-ellison/
It shocks me sometimes how little research the media does before running with a scandalous story. All it takes is a little bit to realize that Mr. Prager made it all up.
Officers of Congress are not required to swear on any book, be it the dictionary or the Bible. Sometimes they pose for photos with a book, but it is not part of the swear in process. All they are required to do is raise thier right hand, and swear to uphold the Constitution. And that's straight from the horses mouth - the House Clerk.
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/11/30/koran-bible-prager-ellison/
It shocks me sometimes how little research the media does before running with a scandalous story. All it takes is a little bit to realize that Mr. Prager made it all up.