In his letter in the July 8 edition of the Times-Union, Mr. Swanson stated that a United States senator had taken his oath of office on the Koran. (I think he may have been hinting that John McCain is a Muslim.) For the record, the only U.S. Congressman to have taken his oath of office on the Koran is Minnesota's District 5 Representative Keith Ellison.
Lisa Rector
Warsaw, via e-mail
Editor's Note: The legend of the Muslim Congressman being sworn in using the Koran has been bouncing around the Internet for a year-and-a-half. It is only partially true. From snopes.com: "In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. When Ellison took office in January 2007, he became the first Muslim member of Congress. In November 2006, some Americans took offense at Ellison's announcement that he planned to utilize the Quran rather than the Bible at the upcoming Congressional swearing-in ceremonies. While the general basis of the controversy is real, editorials ... erred in maintaining that Ellison would be sworn into Congress by taking an oath with his hand upon the Quran. Actually, no Bibles or other religious texts are used during the swearing-in ceremony for the House of Representatives. Incoming House members simply stand in front of the speaker's podium en masse, raise their right hands, and recite an oath in which they swear to uphold the Constitution. Bibles are generally either carried by new House members during the ceremony or don't make an appearance until the newly-sworn Congressmen pose with them during a post-swearing-in photo opportunity with the Speaker of the House. Accordingly, Ellison was not sworn in with the Quran. After the official swearing-in ceremony he posed for photographs with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, both of whom posed with their hands upon a copy of the Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson."
