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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CYBERKEN who wrote (15250)	12/3/2006 8:49:02 PM
From: sandintoes	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

Is that right? I didn't know that..We should enforce it.

To: CYBERKEN who wrote (15250)	12/3/2006 9:35:33 PM
From: Mr. Palau	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

yeah, duke cunningham, delay, bob ney, foley, et al all swore on their bibles, and that turned out fine, didnt it actually, for the official oath, the only thing you use is the constitution, which you promise to uphold (quite a concept for you, i know) and that consitutution prohbiits imposing a religious test as a condition of becoming a member of congress of course, the truth has never gotten in the way of your bloviating "Jewish groups slammed Dennis Prager for his attack on a congressman who plans to use a Koran in a private swearing-in ceremony. In his column this week Prager, a conservative talk-show host and author of a number of books on Judaism, rapped the plan by U.S. Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), saying it would do “more damage to the unity of America and to the value system that has formed this country than the terrorists of 9-11.” Prager said that all members of Congress, including Jews, use a Christian Bible for swearing in. In fact, members of the U.S. House of Representatives are sworn in en masse with no holy books. Some members later hold private, unofficial photo-op ceremonies holding a family Bible, the ceremony to which Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, was referring. Prager’s column was “intolerant, misinformed and downright un-American,” the Anti-Defamation League said, adding that Prager’s recent appointment to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council holds him to a higher standard. The Reform movement’s Religious Action Center said Prager’s was a “shameful argument” that would harm Jews were it to gain currency." "Ellison and his Qur'an get wingnuts whirling What a hilarious load of ignorance, intolerance he exposed. You've gotta hand it to Keith Ellison, Minneapolis' congressman-elect: He's not even in the House yet, and he's got wingnuts falling out of the trees on their empty heads. When Ellison announced that he would take the oath of office on the Qur'an, right-wing radio gasbag Dennis Prager went into high indignation mode. Ohmygod, Prager fumed, Ellison can't be allowed to do that; it "undermines American civilization." Using the Qur'an is akin to a racist taking the oath on a copy of Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf," he fulminated: "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. If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress." And Prager was just warming up, not to mention the acolytes who responded to him. He was over the top, but they were over the moon. Did you know, voters of Minneapolis, that Ellison's campaign was financed by terrorists? Where to begin? How about that oath Ellison will take? He will pledge to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States." If the wild talkers scrunch up their brows and focus really, really hard, maybe even they will recall that freedom of (and from) religion -- that which motivated the Pilgrims to brave the Atlantic -- is the paramount value Ellison will swear to protect. Scrunch a little more, and perhaps they will even recall that the Constitution specifically prohibits any religious test for members of Congress. Requiring someone to put their hand on a Bible would seem to fill the "religious test" bill quite well. That's probably why no religious book plays an official role in swearing in members of Congress. They gather on the House floor, raise their right hands and follow as the speaker leads them through the oath. Some pose privately for photos with a book of choice, but the official oath is unencumbered by religious tomes of any flavor. Crow, anyone?