Rep. Ellison to use Thomas Jefferson’s Koran
I love it! After the ridiculous uproar from Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Virginia — who, ironically, represents the district including Jefferson’s birthplace) last month, I’m glad to see Rep. Keith Ellison (incoming D-Minnesota) found a savvy way to use a Koran for his photo-op swearing in and make a great point at the same time.
Yes, that’s right. He’s going to place his hand on the Koran — his holy book — when he swears into office. Because the whole point of placing your hand on ANY book at that point is to indicate how seriously you’re taking your oath… not to indicate that you’re a Christian or whatever Rep Goode thinks it means.
I read an interesting comment somewhere recently that pointed out that if you’re going to swear an oath to (and with your hands on) any document, it should really be the Constitution that you are agreeing to uphold, not a religious document. Now that makes a lot more sense to me.
