Use of Koran in oath splits conservatives

From Baptist Press:

WASHINGTON (BP)--When U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison became the first person in Congress ever to take the ceremonial oath of office on the Koran, conservatives divided as to whether it was appropriate. Ellison, a Democrat from Illinois, became the first-ever Muslim elected to Congress in November when the Democrats regained power in both the House and Senate. He took the ceremonial oath Jan. 4 using a Koran once owned by Thomas Jefferson.

Soon after Ellison announced in November he would use a Koran for the ceremony, conservative radio host Dennis Prager wrote a column for Townhall.com criticizing Ellison's choice. Prager, who is Jewish, said Ellison's action "undermines American civilization" and "perfectly exemplifies multiculturalist activism.""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," Prager wrote.

"If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress. In your personal life, we will fight for your right to prefer any other book. We will even fight for your right to publish cartoons mocking our Bible. But, Mr. Ellison, America, not you, decides on what book its public servants take their oath."But Eugene Volokh, a professor of law at the University of California Los Angeles and a regular contributor to the conservative National Review Online website, disagreed, arguing that any requirement to take an oath using the Bible would violate the Constitution's provision that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office."

The Supreme Court's most conservative justices, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, would strike down any such requirement, Volokh said."[T]he Constitution thus already expressly authorizes people not to swear at all, but to affirm, without reference to God or to a sacred work," Volokh wrote. "Atheists and agnostics are thus protected, as well as members of certain Christian groups. Why would Muslims and others not be equally protected from having to perform a religious ritual that expressly invokes a religion in which they do not believe? Under the Constitution, all of them 'are incapable of taking an oath on that book,' whether because they are Quakers, atheists, agnostics, or Muslims. Yet all remain entirely free to 'serve in Congress.'"

Ellison, in fact, was not the first member of Congress to take the oath using a book other than the Christian Bible. In 2005 Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D.-Fla., used the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, according to The Washington Post.Prager asserted that usage of the Bible by all members of Congress serves to affirm America's common values. "What Ellison and his Muslim and leftist supporters are saying is that it is of no consequence what America holds as its holiest book; all that matters is what any individual holds to be his holiest book," Prager wrote. "...

When all elected officials take their oaths of office with their hands on the very same book, they all affirm that some unifying value system underlies American civilization. If Keith Ellison is allowed to change that, he will be doing more damage to the unity of America and to the value system that has formed this country than the terrorists of 9-11." >From Baptist Press: