New Toon: Bible Blockade

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There is a "controversy" over whether or not Keith Ellsion, the first Mulsim elected to Congress, should be allowed to use a Koran when he swears in. Dennis Prager, a radio host and columnist, started this talk in a column he wrote:

He should not be allowed to do so -- not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American civilization.

First, it is an act of hubris that perfectly exemplifies multiculturalist activism -- my culture trumps America's culture. 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.
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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.

There are so many problems with this. Besides the whole "there shall be no religious test" thing. Contrary to his claims every President and Congressperson has not used the Bible. Today, the bible is not used in swearing in ceremonies. It is simply used as a prop in a post-swearing in photo op so they can slap a picture of it on their website to convince their constituencies of how mindlessly pious they art. This is all Ellision wants to do. As a strong proponent of the Separation of Church and State, I'm completely underwhelmed by the "threat" he poses.

This is all part of the Christian Revisionist History of America in which they claim that our morals and our government are both derived from the Bible. This is wrong. There is a difference between Christianity being the most popular religion in the country and the government being founded on it. For those who need more convincing I would recommend the Constitution or the Treaty of Tripoli, which was passed in 1796 unanimously without debate:

Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen...

To see Prager in action check out these two clips from Media Matters.

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