I was sadden by this

A friend sent me a piece from the American Family Association Action Alert http://www.afa.net/aa112806_2.asp which says in part.

“Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress, has announced that he will not take his oath of office on the Bible, but on the bible of Islam, the Koran.
He should not be allowed to do so -- not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American civilization.”

I question in a country where there is supposed to be a separation of church and state if any oath should be taken on a holy book of any religion.

My personal belief is the bible is a series of ancient tribal writings, codified by religious leaders and often modified (especially after the 1^st century) by church leaders to meet their power and political needs. Although it contains some wisdom there are some horrible things like okaying slavery. I am willing to take oaths to things I hold sacred but for me swearing on a bible is no different than swearing on a Robert Parker mystery. At the same time I recognize that others consider these books the word of God (or Allah) and I respect their right to believe. I also wonder if those afraid of anyone taking an oath on the Koran realise that much of the two books are the same or similar based on the same religious heritage.

What frightens me is not an oath taken on the Koran, but people who see it as a threat and want to stop it. Give me a good Muslim any day over a bigoted Christian. However, it is not a choice I often get to make. I have friend who are good Christians and I have friends who are good Muslims. The operative word is good.