By Vasko Kohlmayer
Friday, December 29, 2006
In what can only be seen as an act of brazen provocation, Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, has announced his intention to take his oath of office on the Koran.
It is almost impossible to think of anything more preposterous or offensive than someone entering america's highest legislative body by placing his hand on a book which dubs her people infidels and openly calls for their destruction. Likening us to dogs and pigs, the Koran enjoins the faithful to kill as many of us as possible in a ‘holy' struggle called jihad. We must never forget that it was the Koran that inspired the fanatics of 9/11 and others like them who are even now plotting acts of murder and mayhem to be unleashed in our midst.
The Koran not only expresses a deadly contempt for the kind of society we are, but opposes virtually everything we stand for. We look at human beings as autonomous creatures entitled to the dignity of freedom and individuality while the Koran prescribes the death sentence for everyone who refuses to accept its narrow creed. as far apart as day and night, the Koran and our system of government are incompatible, because they stand on antithetical values.
When he places his hand on the Koran during the swearing in ceremony, Keith Ellison will publicly proclaim his allegiance to the values and ideas contained therein. This gesture will not only convey his contempt for the governing principles of our republic, but will also be a slap in the face of a country which is under attack by fanatics whose campaign is inspired and fuelled by this very book.
Bad as Ellison's impudence is, it is nothing when compared with our own cowardice and fecklessness in allowing him to do this. Rather than trying to figure out how to accommodate his shameless request, we should demand that Ellison publicly distance himself from the Koran's murder-inspiring injunctions against us and against much of what we hold dear.
If he is unwilling to do so, he should not be allowed to serve. There would be a simple justification for this. anyone who pledges allegiance to a dogma that is belligerently and irreconcilably inimical to our founding principles should not be qualified to serve in our nation's highest legislative body. We not only have a right but a duty to keep such people out. Only a country gone mad could willingly place into the highest echelons of its government individuals who subscribe to an ideology that is opposed to virtually everything that country stands for. That a congressman-elect wants to swear by a book that sets forth an ideology virulently hostile to the ideals that form the american mode of governance should be a matter of serious concern.
It could be said that no matter what his views Keith Ellison should be allowed to serve, because he was elected by the democratic process. But getting the sufficient number of votes is only one prerequisite of being deemed office worthy. To be eligible, the candidate has to meet a whole range of other criteria. There have been numerous cases when democratically elected lawmakers were removed from their posts for various infractions and crimes. Subscribing to an ideology that advocates the murder of our citizens and the overthrow of our system of government is at least as good a reason for removal as embezzlement or corruption.
Some may say that Ellison has never openly endorsed jihad or the efforts of many of his co-religionists to subvert our society. But how do we know that this is not his ultimate intention? What we know for certain is that he wants to swear by a book which calls for this and one that has been inspiring his fellow Muslims to barbaric acts of terrorism against us.
Keith Ellison has been elected to the House of Representatives to uphold the Constitution and serve the interests of the United States, yet the Koran is crystal clear in its views of societies such as ours: We are infidel dogs deserving of contempt and ultimately annihilation. Keith Ellison needs to tell us where exactly he stands on this. This is the least he should be required to do.
It is also imperative that this nation find the moral strength and courage to tell Ellison and others like him that the Koran has no place in our democratic form of government which is based on respect for the rights and freedoms of its citizens. During his swearing in ceremony Ellison will be expected to promise that he will defend the Constitution and its values. It is not possible to do this in good faith while clutching the Koran, because its ideology is in direct opposition to the principles on which this country was founded.
Keith Ellison's farce should not be allowed to proceed. We can't allow him or anyone else to enter the high reaches of our government while flaunting their allegiance to a document which is inimical to our values and fuels the efforts of those bent on our destruction. No one must be allowed to mock this country and its people in so outrageous a manner.
Born and raised in former communist Czechoslovakia, Vasko Kohlmayer is a naturalized american citizen. His work has appeared in The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Times, Frontpage magazine, The american Thinker, The Jewish Press, RealClearPolitics, and others. Email Kohlmayer at vasko_kohlmayer@msn.com
2006 Vasko Kohlmayer
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