Article VI, Section 3 (emphasis added):
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible. If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don’t serve in Congress.
Nope, there’s certainly no religious element in requiring one to swear on the Bible instead of the Koran. Another one of those “historical traditions,” I suppose.
Oh, and he adds this:
But these naive people do not appreciate that America will not change the attitude of a single American-hating Muslim by allowing Ellison to substitute the Koran for the Bible. In fact, the opposite is more likely: Ellison’s doing so will embolden Islamic extremists and make new ones, as Islamists, rightly or wrongly, see the first sign of the realization of their greatest goal — the Islamicization of America.
Here here. If Mr. Ellison swears on the Koran, then the terrorists have won and every American will be killed by the Islamofacist’s quest for world domination.
I’m so glad we have these spokespeople of moral clarity to keep us straight.
UPDATE: This is even stupider than it appeared. According to this, the House doesn’t include a religious text in the swearing in ceremony. So apparently, this is another of those fake controversies intended to get people riled up over nothing.