Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va. says a Muslum should not use Qur'an during swearing in

Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va. sent a letter to one of his constituents criticizing the plan of Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress, to use a Koran for the ceremonial swearing-in of members next year.He said: "I do not subscribe to using the Koran in any way."Representative Ellison is Islamic and so wants to use the Quar'an instead of a Bible during his swearing in ceremony. sourceSo should we force Muslims to use the Bible instead or the Qur'an, a Jew to use the Bible instead of the Torah (although I imagine a Jew would prefer nothing)?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Yesterday, Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., a Virginia Republican afirmed his position and expanded it to specifically say that we should revise our immigration laws to limit people of a specific religious belief from coming to the US. sourceIs there some valid reason for excluding people of a specific religious belief from immigrating to the US or holding public office?If so, would it not be equally valid to say that Christians should not hold office?Edited by jar, : forgot to link to the source.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Actually in the official swearing in ceremony they swear to uphold the Constitution and the Laws of the land.He will do the same in the private ceremony but with the addition of placing his left hand on something he considers sacred for emphasis.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Actually, during the official ceremony as Goode well knows, all of the members swear with their right hand raised that they will support the Constitution and uphold the Laws of the land. Goode, having been through the ceremony himself know that and so his objection is simply nonsense from the very beginning. It is another example of "Lying for Christ."And if you wish to support Goode, fine, but plese understand that he knows well he is misrepresenting the truth when he fails to point out the FACTS of the official Swearing In Ceremony.Why should Ellison have to swear he is an American before he is a Muslim any more than a Jew or a Christian or a Roman Catholic? You do know also that bringing up immigration as an issue is another example of Goode's dishonesty. Rep. Ellison's family has been in the US and US citizens since the 1700 so immigration is just another example of misdirection and misrepresentation. If, during the unofficial private ceremony someone wishes to us a symbol to accentuate the seriousness of the oath they are taking, how can it be other than complimentary? During the private ceremony they still raise their right hand and swear to uphold the Constitution and the Laws of the Land.Is it possible that Goode really is as ignorant of the facts as it seems or is it that he simply thinks his constituents are really that ignorant and that it is really that easy to hide the pea while he switches the shells and cons them?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

I'm not sure bigot is actually the right term. I think it is more a matter of fear and that so many Republicans realize that they probably could not compete against people that grew up is a less sheltered environment. The Republican Party today is trying to attract the weak, ignorant and fearful.What is interesting though is that Rep. Goode is using exactly the same tactics that the ID and Biblical Creationists use, misdirection and misrepresentation. He misdirects the audience's attention by not explaining the difference between the general official ceremony and the private unofficial ceremony as though the Qur'an was part of the official ceremony, then when their attention is diverted, he palms the pea and moves on to immigration even though immigration is TOTALLY unrelated to the issue and COMPLETELY unrelated to Rep. Ellison.Rep Goode is simply being dishonest, but as we have seen, he will likely get away with it. The fact is that his audience is simply not bright enough to see that he is pulling the old Carny trick and conning them.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Thank you.I personally think that is exactly what the Republican Party relies on these days, FUD, Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. That and the ignorance of the party base that doesn't see him palming the pea.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

No one prevented Goode from speaking his piece or even elaborating on it.What is happening is that others are simply pointing out Goode's dishonesty.What this is about is that Goode simply commits a sin of omission by only telling a half truth. He says that Ellison will be sworn in using a Qur'an. He neglects to say that is only during the unofficial private ceremony and that during the official ceremony, Ellison, just like Goode and every other Representative, will be sworn in simply by raising their right hand.He then commits a sin of commission by bring in immigration. Since Rep Ellison's family have been US citizens since at least the 1700's, immigration is not an issue and is unrelated to anything involving Rep. Ellison.He goes a step further and says that he will not uphold the very Constitution he swears to uphold.That should be grounds for impeachment. There is no doubt that Rep. Goode has shown he will not uphold the Constitution of the United States and that he should NOT be allowed to take office.As pointed out back in Message 18 by subbie, Article VI of the Constitution says that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." When Rep. Goode said and later expanded to say ... he is advocating a religious test for holding office.Rep. Goode should be barred from taking office. By his very words he has shown that he will not uphold his oath of office and so is not worthy of the position.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Yeah. We were talking about that in chat earlier.I was surprised that folk did not know that TJ had a copy of the Qu'ran.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion