Should Keith Ellison be allowed to swear in on the Koran,as an elected official in this country?

No he should not. It's a book of lies, so his oath would be a lie. It's a book that promotes killing people that are different, something that goes against everything American. Islam is trying to dominate the world. Why would we bow down and let that be a part of our Nation? Should we just hand them all our heads too? Why was he even elected? This is a holy war and people better start accepting that. And women, God forbid, if you are raped, do not cry when your attacker cannot be prosecuted because there were not 4 male witnesses to the crime. That is Sharia Law. That is Islam. That is what you are allowing in our political system. And for the Muslim hypocrites, isn't the Bible part of the Koran? Isn't it supposed to be holy to you also? Or is that just another lie to try and appease us "infidels"? God help America!

The bible and other books are not used to swear in new members to congress, they gather on the House floor, raise their right hands and follow as the speaker leads them through the oath.

Article VI of the U.S. Constitution

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

The reason bibles are not used is made clear. 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.

Of course.

"no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States"

If people being sworn in to political office were *required* to swear their oath on the Bible, that would be an abrogation of the above.

In fact, it is only custom that people put their hand on a Bible.

The idea behind it was that doing so made the oath more binding.

For a Muslim the Quran is his or her most holy, just as the Bible is for Christians. it is completely appropriate for Ellison to use the Quran rather than the Bible.

If you're a Christian, would YOU use some other religion's holy book? A copy of The Book of Mormon, perhaps, or the Bhagvad Gita or the Upanishads?

In any case, no book is actually required - it's just tradition.

This question's been asked twice that I know of--once by me.

And I say YES. After all, the point is to really hold the congressperson to their vows! If the Bible's not important to the person swearing, what's the point? Besides, our Founders ensured that there would be no religious tests for office.

Worry less about what he swears on and more about whether he upholds his vows. A lot of congresspeople swear on that poor ol' Bible, and break their vow almost immediately.

I think it is wrong to use any symbol of any religion. One should be able to affirm, or swear, their honesty to people-as person to person. Using any religious symbol is declaring that that particular religion is the ''right'' one. This is a nation of religious freedom.

Absolutely!

It's not a matter of Qur'an being a book of lies or not, it's a matter of what Keith Ellison believes is sacred. And he thinks of Qur'an as sacred, just like you do of Bible.

An individual should be able to swear on whatever religious literature they hold to. If a Muslim swears on a Bible, I believe that is meaningless b/c the Bible doesn't mean anything to him.

Would you prefer he lie about his faith and swear on the Christian bible? How trustworthy would he be if he lied about his religion, just to pander to the Christian right-wing? If I were to testify in court, I would have to take an oath, because I don't believe in the Christian god and would not swear on the bible. Why should anyone have to disavow their true faith?

Why not?

There is nothing wrong with the Koran. In some areas, more eloquent than the Bible (I have read both cover-to-cover).

~ Eric

Actually a person can get sworn in on any book they want. They can even choose to not use a book. Heck they don't even have to say "So help me God"