Virginia: From the Sublime to the Ridiculous
Regarding this article in the New York Times about Congressman Goode’s letter to his constituents condemning America’s first Muslim Congressman’s decision to swear his oath on the Koran:
Congressman Goode: The Constitution which you studied as a law student at Virginia, and swore to defend as a member of the ‘105th, the 106th, the 107th, 108th and the 109th Congress‘ says this:‘but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States’ (Article VI, section 3)
Does your oath to the Constitution not include this section? Or do you simply not take the oath you took seriously?
(Via Lessig Blog)
Whoa, what a smackdown… deserved
Google News has a bunch of items about this today, including this one about Buddhists in Congress: http://stevensonblog.tuscaloosanews.com/default.asp?item=397872
Thank you for that link. Nice article.
You’re very welcome, I thought it was a nice article too.
Today I sent a letter to Rep. Goode with a link to Rahim AlHaj’s online video of his June 2006 performance at the Kennedy Center. When other avenues fail, the arts can help make connections. It seemed fitting given Rahim’s interest in bridging the gap between East and West. I also invited Rep. Goode to visit the area of Virginia where I live, which is home to many Muslims and people from a myriad of cultural backgrounds who have enriched our community.