America. not Keith Ellison, decides what book a congressman takes his oath on

Townhall ^ | Nov. 28, 2006 | Dennis Prager

[MikefromOhio]

This has already been posted and someone still needs to buy Mr. Prager a copy of the United States Constitution, Article VI of which explicitly gives Mr. Ellison the right to choose to be sworn in on whatever tome he wants.

THERE ARE NO RELIGIOUS TESTS for office.

Come on now. Don't bring either common sense or actual FACT into a Muslim Paranoia thread.

[HaveHadEnough]

If a jew, a buddhist, a hindu, or an atheist can all take the oth on the same book, the bible, why can't a muslim?

They can, they just don't have to.

[Hawk1976]

There are no religous tests. No such test has been administered.

The question in fact is whether we should alter tradition. I see no evidence we should.

[MikefromOhio]

Where is anyone bound by law to go with tradition?

[ItsForTheChildren]

this MoFo's oath (I mean Taqiyya) isn't going to be worth the spittle he sprays while reciting it!

Whether it's on the Bible or the Koran.

[Obie Wan]

How about if he takes his oath on a picture of the Twin Towers collapsing !!!

[Txsleuth]

Toilet paper...there's the ticket!! LOL

He could use a stack of Bibles...and his word wouldn't mean anything.

But, there are a lot of Congresscritters that I feel the same way about...and as far as I know they aren't Muslim.

That is a different discussion...if he wants to use a Koran, then he needs to run for office in an Islamic state, with an Islamic government.

[Hawk1976]

For one thing, tradition is part of the glue that holds society together.

West Point cadets, take the same oath as the first West Point class did on their first day. The same oath every other officer or enlisted man has taken.

The Marines hold a birthday party for the Marine Corps with certain required forms that are obeyed.

Just for starters. Should these be scrapped?

[AntiGuv]

I don't have much problem with people swearing the oath on whatever they deem holy, but what does an oath on the Koran mean anyhow when it commands Muslims to cheat, rob, rape, and kill the infidel?

[Indy Pendance]

You know, I wasn't even thinking about a muslim, it's the elected officials in general.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1745518/posts?page=16#16

[Indy Pendance]

Military folks take their oaths a lot more seriously than many politicians.

[Indy Pendance]

I don't have much problem with people swearing the oath on whatever they deem holy, but what does an oath on the Koran mean anyhow when it commands Muslims to cheat, rob, rape, and kill the infidel?

What's the difference with a liberal? Oh, they swore on a bible. Think of Clinton, Juanita, and Kennedy, Mary Jo. and our taxes and the general attitude of liberals.

[Txsleuth]

Oh, okay.....I was responding to your post about using toilet paper..

Yes...we agree totally about elected officials regardless of religion.

[sarasmom]

"Military folks take their oaths a lot more seriously than many politicians."

That bears repeating.

[Indy Pendance]

I was just making a general comment, and thought you'd like to see my additional comment.

[Hawk1976]

This is true.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

From one of the many previous threads on this article: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1745413/posts?page=66#66

[MikefromOhio]

LOL

Traditions are the glue that hold society together?

whatever you say.

This is a nonstarter. This forum needs to look to other things to bash this guy on. Bashing him over his religion won't get you anywhere except as a permanent minority.

He has a freedom to choose whatever traditions HE holds. That's what the TRADITION of freedom is.

[cjmae]

If a person doesn't believe in something then taking an oath on it doesn't mean anything either.
I'll bet half of congress doesn't believe in the teachings of the Bible but they take their oaths on it.
I wonder how come that practice has never entered (at least dramatically) the battle of separation of church and state.
Perhaps this will bring it to the forefront.

[conservative in nyc]

This is factually inaccurate. There is absolutely no Constitutional requirement for House members or even the President to swear on the Bible when taking his oath of office - while Presidents have traditionally done so, it's not clear that any oath needs to be with one hand on the Bible to qualify as an oath (it likely doesn't), and under the Constitution, office holders can take an affirmation of office of office instead of an oath anyway. In fact, President Teddy Roosevelt didn't swear on the Bible when he became President after McKinley's death in 1901. One simply might not have been available at the time. He still became President.

House members are traditionally sworn in en masse by the Speaker on the first day of Congress immediately after the Speaker of the House is elected and sworn in. The 2005 swearing in ceremony is available on C-SPAN's website here. The Speaker is sworn in around 2:13:30 by the Dean of the House; the rest of Congress is sworn in shortly thereafter.

All Speaker Hastert asked members to do was raise their right hands while being sworn in. As a practical matter, the House floor normally seats 448 (they somehow squeeze in more seats for the State of the Union address), and there are up to 439 other members of the House (including non-voting members from the territories and the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico) that need to be sworn in at that time. There isn't that much room on the floor for aides or family members to hold the Bible for Congressmen to swear on. So, as you can see from the video, most Congressmen appear to raise their right hand and put their left hand on nothing, at least during this ceremonial swearing in.

Now, there may be a chance for members to have a ceremonial one-on-one swearing in for photo-op purposes (or if the Member is not present at the opening of Congress or is later elected). For example, Congressman Rothman (D-NJ) has a picture of him being "sworn in" with his hand on what appears to be the Bible on his House website. This is when Ellison might swear on the Koran - for a photo-op.