The Foreman Awards For Excellence In Humanity - December 4th

[ericcoleman]

Let's talk about Dennis Prager. He is in a tizzy about incoming congressman Keith Ellison because Ellison, a Muslim, wants to take his oath of office on the Koran. Well, duh, it is his holy book. Prager says, and I quote

"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."

Of course there is one little glitch, that being the US Constitution.

Article VI, Section 3 has this to say.

"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."

And second

Last year Bill O'Reilly went of on his yearly rant about the phrase "Happy Holiday" being a threat to Christmas. The best part of that was for a week or more into his nightly rants, you could go to the Fox News website and buy Bill O'Reilly holiday ornaments.

This year, he's off on IPods. He says

"I don't own an iPod. I would never wear an iPod... If this is your primary focus in life - the machines... it's going to have a staggeringly negative effect, all of this, for America... did you ever talk to these computer geeks? I mean, can you carry on a conversation with them?"

You can even download the podcast where he says all that if you want.




[Poll #881637]

A special thanks to democraticunderground.com for pointing out the links

Comments

[mstrhypno.livejournal.com]

I pulled it directly from Ask.com and their source is the House Archives.

Lee

[ericcoleman]

here is the article I saw earlier ... but it's not that specific ... you got the link ... I'd like to know for certain ... information junkie that I am

[mstrhypno.livejournal.com]

Okay, the exact citation, from the Clerk's Office, cites as follows, from the 109th Congress (2005):

The oath of office required by the sixth article of the Constitution of the United States, and as provided by section 2 of the act of May 13, 1884 (23 Stat. 22), to be administered to members, Resident Commissioner, and Delegates of the House of Representatives, the text of which is carried in 5 U.S.C. 3331:

"I, AB, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

http://clerk.house.gov/members/oathoffice.html

No mention is made, one way or another, if a hand is placed on a Bible or not, but as the Oath is administered en masse I believe that it is not and, from what photos I have seen of it on other ask.com sites, it is sometimes done and sometimes nt, depending on if only one Congresscritter is being swonr or a bunch are.

So we both could be correct.

Lee

[ericcoleman]

The more that I look, it seems that some folks will have a Bible (or whatever) for a photo op ... but few if any actually swear on it ...

[pheltzer.livejournal.com]

Traditionally the President does swear and/or affirm with their hand on a Family Bible. Being as we've never had a non-Christian President no problem. First time we get a Jewish or Muslim or Pastafarian President... watch the fireworks.

[blur01.livejournal.com]

And for just that reason, I dont expect that to happen any time soon.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

I've mentioned this too many times to make the links, but: Two presidents have been affirmed, not sworn in (Pierce, Hoover), and the Quaker Nixon was sworn in on two Bibles. The oath is important, not the symbol. And besides (as someone else in LJ wisely pointed out), wouldn't you want someone to swear an oath on a book which they held as holy?

I could swear on the New Testament (if it didn't include the Old) and while I respect the words, it wouldn't regard my oath as binding in a Ten Commandments sort of way. Indeed, if they forced me to take an oath on something I didn't believe, I wouldn't respect the oath. To insist otherwise indicates religious fanaticism, not devotion.

One of the great lessons of 9/11 is that the convictions of misplaced faith is as strong or stronger than the convictions of faith. Ellison is my Congressman. In the Shockwave Radio interview of Keith Ellison, I asked him about being a Muslim. He said the subject had never come up in his elections to the MN State legislature. I don't recall it being an issue in the election (except to note that he would be the first Muslim in Congress). Every now and then Minnesota Nice means something.

Aside: Iirc, Ellison is also the first black Congressman from MN. No one's even talking about that. Even Sphincter Conservatives have moved on, at least for now.

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

The fireworks could get just as interesting if a non-Abrahamic person (could be an atheist or a Hindu, doesn't have to be a pagan with the associated baggage of all the idiots that think pagans are satanists) publicly refused to swear by God. I'd like to see the Supreme Court dance their way out of that one they way they did on Michael Newdow's challenge to the blatantly unconstitutional "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.