American Jewish Committee Outraged by Prager Rebuke of Muslim Congressman

[JohnLocke]

AJC Outraged by Prager Rebuke of Muslim Congressman

December 5, 2006 – New York – The American Jewish Committee views as outrageous and religiously intolerant Dennis Prager’s critical remarks regarding newly elected Congressman Keith Ellison’s decision to use a Koran when taking the private, ceremonial oath of office that will follow the official oath in the House of Representatives.
“Keith Ellison’s choice to use the Koran at his personal swearing-in ceremony in fact celebrates the religious liberty embodied in our Constitution,” said Rabbi Gary Greenebaum, AJC’s U.S. Director of Interreligious Affairs.
“We support the right of Jewish elected officials to use the Hebrew Bible rather than the Christian Scriptures. Indeed, in our increasingly multi-religious society we are likely to see elected officials from a variety of faiths, and each may choose to use different holy books or none at all.”
On the first day of the 110th Congress, all representatives will take the oath of office, a declaration without use of religious texts, asserting support and defense of the U.S. Constitution. The personal swearing-in ceremony, not required by the Constitution, has long been an accepted custom in American political life, and some have used the Bible for those rituals.
"Let’s remember that Mr. Ellison's validation for elective office comes from the voters from his district in Minnesota, not from his religious beliefs,” said Greenebaum. “His election to the House of Representatives as the first Muslim Member of Congress is significant as it exemplifies America’s religious pluralism."

http://www.ajc.org/site/c.ijITI2PHKoG/b.851561/apps/nl/content2.asp?content_id={C3282A2B-0489-4DAC-BA8D-A28DD41C97C3}¬oc=1

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. Bravo to them.

[applegrove]

2. Good for them.

[yurbud]

3. Prager follows freeper definition of intolerance and atrocity both can only be done to us not by us

[Graybeard]

4. Let's now hear the same from...

...Roman Catholic, Episcopalian leaders, etc. I do not expect
anything from the so-called religious right. Their silence
will be deafening.   

[formercia]

5. Excellent n/t

[annabanana]

6. Good for them. Prager is an ignorant idiot.. . . . .n/t

[xchrom]

7. ...

:applause:

[Marr]

8. Prager is a sort of Jewish Supremacist- very racist. I once heard him say

that Jewish people are smarter than the rest of the population overall, because- get this- any society's brightest people are it's religious leaders. Since other religions (notably Catholics) don't let their priests have children, and Rabbis are encouraged to have many children... well, there you go.

He also rejects evolution, oddly enough.

[muntrv]

9. The Constitution says there's not supposed to be a religious test for

oath of office for Congress. Last week's Top 10 Conservative Idiots mentioned this when talking about Prager.

[xultar]

10. BRAVO! This is much appreciated. I give them MAJOR PROPS!

[bridgit]

11. k&r'd, inclusive tolerance is a joy to behold...

:applause:

[Pastiche423]

12. Kudos to the American Jewish Committee

K & R

[w4rma]

13. Good. (nt)

[garthranzz]

14. I'm an orthodox Jew and I find Ellison's decision remarkable only

because someone is making a big deal of it. Prager's comments - and I saw a clip with him on some talk show - are offensive. No, repugnant.

[Left Is Write]

15. Bravo AJC and Rabbi Greenbaum!

[rockymountaindem]

16. Good!

We all need to stick together against clowns like Prager, who serves no agenda other than that of xenophobia.

[Printer70]

17. Ha! Prager = up sh*t creek

And it couldn't have happened to a more deserving talking-head.

Synopsis:

Prager: When people get elected to congress, its a legal step for them to be sworn in.

Intelligent people: No its not's a legal step. It's a photo op afterwards.

Prager: Whatever! And they always use the bible.

IP: People have use different books like the Torah in the past.

Prager: See! These muslims are crazy; always wanting exceptions. I'm glad we Xtians and Jews can agree on that (BTW, don't try any funny business Hindus, Buddhists, and Other- I'm watching you!)

AJC: Dennis Prager is a moron.

I'm sure Prager will now publish a column saying that his views were misconstrued and that he never intended to single out Muslims. Isn't there some social penalty for him making these inflammatory comments?

[AspenRose]

18. Yay!

Good for them. :thumbsup:

E Pluribus Unum!

[Eric J in MN]

19. The Jewish ADL is also against Dennis Prager.

http://www.adl.org/PresRele/DiRaB_41/4934_41.htm

"Dennis Prager’s argument that Representative-Elect Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, should not be permitted to take his oath of office on a Koran is, intolerant, misinformed and downright un-American."

[JohnLocke]

20. Kick (nt).

[Chorophyll]

21. Kick!

It's always nice to hear voices from the Religious Left. Let's hope they get louder.

:kick:

[JohnLocke]

22. Kick (nt).