Lay Your Hand on the Koran and Repeat After Me.
Posted on December 22, 2006
| buzz-it! | Huff it!
I’ve never quite bought into the meaning of swearing on the Bible. I’m sure it is supposed to mean that because the book is held in reverence, the oath-taker will also reverence the truth or the ideal to be upheld. Attaching any additional meaning to the act seems either superstitious or offensive to the devout.
When a leader puts her hand on the Bible to be sworn in, is she saying, “God will strike me down if I lie,” or “The mystical energy in this volume, perhaps bought at Wallmart, will not allow me to break my obligations, if I just put my hand on it.” Or is she saying, “my regard for this book is only as good as my word (and I would not be here were I not a politician.)
I don’t know from what tradition I learned as a child not to swear oaths (I think it was meant to keep me from doing so lightly). And certainly one was not to swear on the Bible. The latter was in reverence for the book. I don’t think I’m from a tradition that historically frowns on oaths. Now 25 years after her death, I’ve begun to understand that some of the language and values I learned from my mother came from the movies. What finally clued me in, was the Yiddish that still adds color to some of my phrases. I suspect the caution about oaths probably came from matinees as well.
So now some right-wingers are saying anyone from any religious tradition must swear on the Bible and only the Bible when they take office. Their target is Keith Ellison the new Democratic Rep. from Michigan. He will be the first Muslim to serve in that body, and will have his ceremonial oath photo taken with the Holy Koran. (see Washington Post article.)
Forget that I think swearing on one’s own Holy book sends confusing messages, how confusing is it for me to say, “you will be held to your truth by swearing on my book?” It’s similar to, “Don’t swear on your mother’s grave that you’ll abide by your word; swear on my mother’s grave and I know you’ll keep your word.” What could be sillier? Well it would be silly if it was just faulty oath-taking logic.
It’s just common superstitious sense that if I want you to swear on something Holy, it better be something Holy to you.
Mr. Ellison is a natural born U.S. citizen by the way, a fact that wouldn’t matter once eligibility for office is established; except, in addition to the religious angle being used to attack him, Rep. Virgil Goode, R-VA, has taken up the attack on immigration grounds, saying essentially that if we don’t stop immigration we’ll have even more Muslims in Congress. Faulty logic reigns supreme.
As usual the issue is not really about what it’s about. It’s not about religion; It’s about power. It’s another cynical effort to attack some “other” to build up one’s own group and create some personal notoriety in the process.
I promise on a stack of family cookbooks that this one will get no real traction.
Sphere ItComments
One Response to “Lay Your Hand on the Koran and Repeat After Me.”
Leave a Reply
And Ellison isn’t even an immigrant!
One tongue-in-cheek report said he was an immigrant from Michigan.
Sorry not to remember the source. —jpm