If a muslim prefers to swear an oath on the koran...

[cynatnite]

rather than the bible, I'm more likely to take him at his word than if he swore on a book he didn't believe in.

Makes sense to me.

[havocmom]

1. Makes sense to swear on what is sacred to the individual.

A lot of American pols should take oaths with hands on their stock portfolios. Seems that is all that is sacred to some of them.

[Deja Q]

3. Tell that to Ken Lay.

:(

[Eric J in MN]

8. Ken Lay was protecting his stock portfolio by selling...

...when other employees couldn't sell.

[havocmom]

11. Yep, he ran the experiment on a big scale

But I know a guy in the energy/power biz in AZ who ran the scheme/test on a smaller scale in that state back in the late 80s.

Since the bastards don't pay for their crimes, they just keep the game going, in an ever-increasing scale.

Lay WAS selling while doing the rah-rah thing to get employees to buy.

[Seen the light]

2. I know it's been said before, but swearing on things period is outdated nt

[MethuenProgressive]

4. No bible or koran ever used in the swearing-in ceremony

The whole "controversy" was probably fabricated by FOX News et al.
House members just raise their hand and are sworn in - that's all.

[cynatnite]

7. Thanks for the clarification...

When I took my oath upon joining the Army there was no bible or anything. We just raised our hands.

[MethuenProgressive]

9. My info is from ThinkProgress.org 11/30. Link in post below:

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/11/30/koran-bible-prager-ellison

Right-wing radio host Dennis Prager wrote a column earlier this week claiming that Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim elected to Congress, had “announced that he will not take his oath of office on the Bible, but on the bible of Islam, the Koran.” Prager claimed this “act undermines American civilization,” and compared it to being sworn in with a copy of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.”
>snip< ...Prager’s column is based on one other glaring error: the swearing-in ceremony for the House of Representatives never includes a religious book
----------------------
They lie. It's what they do.

[Warren DeMontague]

5. Frankly, if we really gave a damn for what this country was supposed to be about

we'd have people swear on the Constitution.

[Kagemusha]

6. Actually no congressman is sworn in on the bible or the koran officially

They're sworn in en masse in Congress without a religious test of any sort being applied, consistent with the US Constitution. For photo op purposes, Congressmen then get private swearing ins for the cameras and do so on the Bible, with no legal consequence whatsoever.

I'd suspected as much but a kind Daily Kos poster confirmed it for me.

Edit: It's like when the senators (I think it was senators..) spoke the oath of allegiance on the steps of congress and shouted out UNDER GOD.

[rurallib]

10. Another fucking distraction to keep us from watching them

destroy the constitution and rob us blind. Most use nothing. Frankly I could care less.