Minnesota Democrat's decision to use Quran for oath riles right

WASHINGTON — When newly elected members of Congress raise their right hands as they take their oaths of office in January, they won't be placing their left hands on the Bible or any other religious texts.

During official swearing-in ceremonies, elected members don't place their hands on any books. It's up to individual members, however, if they want to carry sacred texts.

"Some members carry a Bible. You don't actually put your hand on a Bible. I can't see how anyone would object to carrying a Quran," Senate historian Don Ritchie said.

But the blogosphere and talk radio are having a field day, criticizing Minnesota Democratic Rep.-elect Keith Ellison's decision to use the Quran when he's sworn in to office Jan. 4. He's the first Muslim to be elected to Congress.

In a column posted Tuesday on the conservative Web site Townhall.com, Dennis Prager blasted Ellison's decision.

Prager, who also has a radio talk show, said Ellison, a convert from Catholicism, should swear on a Christian Bible — which "America holds as its holiest book. ... If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress."

The post generated nearly 800 comments and sparked a tempest in the conservative blogosphere. Many who posted comments called the United States a Christian country and said Muslims are beginning to gain too much influence. Others wrote about the separation of church and state and said the Constitution protects all religions.

The American Family Association, a nonprofit that focuses on the news media's influence on society, entered the fray, calling on people to ask members of Congress to pass a law that would make the Bible the only book that could be used at swearing-in ceremonies.

Dave Colling, Ellison's spokesman, said the incoming congressman's office has received hundreds of "very bigoted and racist" e-mails and phone calls. "The vast majority said, 'You should resign from office if you're not willing to use the book our country was founded on,' " Colling said.

The taking of the oath is relatively simple. House members traditionally raise their right hands and are sworn in together on the floor of the chamber. "They can bring in whatever they want," said Fred Beuttler, deputy historian of the House.

Republican Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon, a Mormon, carried an expanded Bible that included the Book of Mormon at his swearing-in ceremony in 1997.

Eugene Volokh, a professor of law at the University of California, Los Angeles, said the Constitution authorizes people not to swear oaths at all, protecting atheists and agnostics.

Volokh noted in an article in National Review Online that two former presidents — Franklin Pierce and Herbert Hoover — didn't swear their oaths but chose to affirm them.

"Why would Muslims and others not be equally protected?" Volokh wrote, noting that the Supreme Court long had held that Americans had the right to be treated equally, regardless of their religion.

"Letting Christians swear the oath of office, while allowing members of other denominations only to swear what ends up being a mockery of an oath — a religious ceremony appealing to a religious belief system that they do not share — would be discriminatory," Volokh wrote.