Newly-elected congressman, Keith Ellison, plans to take the oath of office by swearing on the Qur'an, not the Bible. Some have raised an uproar over this. I'm not talking about the general public. I'm talking about the leaders. They're missing some important points.
1. The United States is not a Christian nation. The founding fathers, many of whom were not Christians but Theists, took pains to create a secular state. Therefore, the Bible is not the official holy book of this country. There is no official religion and no official holy book.
2. The voters of Minnesota chose Ellison to represent them and they knew he was a Muslim. We should respect the choice of the voters.
3. The Bible doesn't have a strong intrinsic meaning to Muslims. The Qur'an does. So if someone is being asked to uphold his duties, shouldn't he swear by that which is important to him? No one is asking a Christian congressman to swear on the Qur'an. That would be nonsense. So why should a Muslim congressman swear on the Bible? It's only fair.
I would like to recognize a small victory for justice. Soldiers responsible for the Haritha massacre will be punished.
My only question is, When will we punish the person who started this whole mess in the first place?
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