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In mid-November 2006 it was reported that Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress (for Minnesota's 5th congressional district), "will take his oath of office with his hand upon the Qur'an, the Islamic holy book". In reaction to the news, conservative media pundit Dennis Prager criticized the decision in his November 28, 2006, column entitled "America, not Keith Ellison, decides what book a Congressman takes his oath on". The column attracted national attention from both Ellison and Prager supporters. Presented with the fact that all members of the House swear in (or affirm) ''en masse'' without the use of any religious text, and that such works are only used in ceremonial reenactments afterwards, Prager stated "that’s the whole point: it’s exactly because it’s ceremonial that it matters". In response to a wave of criticism, Prager released another column on the topic on December 5, 2006, entitled "A response to my many critics—and a solution". In that column, Prager repeated the inaccurate claim that no, or hardly any, officeholder in U.S. history had ever refused to take his oath on the Bible. The controversy became more heated when Rep. Virgil Goode (R–VA) issued a letter to his constituents stating his view that Ellison's decision to use the Qur'an is a threat to "the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America...() if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran". Goode's foray into the controversy caused many other members of Congress to weigh in. Ellison went on to use the English translation of the Qur'an owned by Thomas Jefferson for the swearing-in ceremony. ==Constitutional provisions== Critics of Prager point out that the United States Constitution provides "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States" (Article VI, section 3) and at least four Presidents have not been sworn in on a Bible. In his December 5, 2006 article on the subject Prager denied that he was promoting a de facto religious test, despite his statement that Ellison "should not be allowed" to take his oath on the Qur'an. "I never even hinted that there should be a religious test. It has never occurred to me that only Christians run for office in America. The idea is particularly laughable in my case since I am not now, nor ever have been, a Christian...I want people of every faith and of no faith who affirm the values I affirm to enter political life. My belief that the Bible should be present at any oath (or affirmation) of office has nothing whatsoever to do with the religion of the office holder. ...You don't have to be Christian to acknowledge that the Bible is the source of America's values. Virtually every founder of this country knew that and acknowledged it."〔 Law Professor Eugene Volokh noted that the Constitution states officials "'shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required...' The option of giving an affirmation rather than oath...() the Constitution thus already expressly authorizes people not to swear at all, but to affirm, without reference to God or to a sacred work. Atheists and agnostics are thus protected, as well as members of certain Christian groups (as Quakers ).〔Quakers, anabaptists, and a number of other Christian groups refuse to take oaths, based upon the prohibition by Jesus, as reported in Matthew 5:34-37.〕 Why would Muslims and others not be equally protected from having to perform a religious ritual that expressly invokes a religion in which they do not believe?" Volokh's point here is furthered by the fact that then Rep.-elect Mazie Hirono (D–HI), who is a Buddhist, announced that she would use the affirmation option and "has no plans to use any religious text in the swearing-in ceremony". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Quran oath controversy of the 110th United States Congress」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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