black…MYstory

In all the silliness that I have heard in the opposition to Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison’s decision to do his ceremonial swearing-in on the Koran (see here for an example of what I am talking about), I have to admire how he handles it. He doesn’t get into silly religious debates. He simply refers to the Constitution as a guide for our governing principles.

The argument, on its face, is silly because the official swearing-in does not involve a holy book of any kind. The swearing-in that the right is misleading the public about is really done as a private ceremony for the representative and his/her family and the oath can be taken on any book the representative chooses or none at all. Because Ellison is Muslim, he chose the Koran.

However, in this case, Ellison did not use just any version of the Koran. To turn the tables on his detractors, Ellison has chosen a very special copy of the Koran. This copy belonged to a man who was a “founding father” of the United States, a signatory to the Declaration of Independence and a former U.S. President. The Koran in question belonged to none other than Thomas Jefferson.

This also is particularly interesting because Virgil Goode, the representative from Virginia who wrote a letter decrying having a Muslim in Congress and who is trying to stoke fear of more Muslims coming to America, represents Thomas Jefferson’s district in Virgina. When asked, Goode had comment about Ellison’s use of Jefferson’s Koran.

So, will the righties now smear Thomas Jefferson for owning a copy of the Koran? Or will they see that, like Jefferson, Ellison believes that there should be no religious test for political service and that the guide for governance should be the U.S. Constitution?

Regardless of the right’s reaction, I have to applaud Keith Ellison for such a shrewd move.

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