|
Washington Post Editorial - December 22, 2006
A Bigot in Congress
One Muslim congressman is one too many for Virgil Goode
BIGOTRY COMES in various guises -- some coded, some closeted, some colossally stupid. The bigotry displayed recently by Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., a Republican who represents a patch of south-central Virginia, falls squarely in the third category. Mr. Goode, evidently in a state of xenophobic delirium, went on a semi-public tirade against the looming peril and corrupting threat posed by Muslim immigration to the United States. "I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America," he wrote in a letter to constituents.
The inspiration for Mr. Goode's rant is Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat who last month became the first Muslim elected to Congress. Mr. Ellison, who was born in Detroit and converted to Islam in college, has decided to use the Koran during a ceremonial swearing-in, as is his constitutional right. This does not sit well with Mr. Goode, who, obnoxiously referring to his congressional colleague-to-be as "the Muslim Representative from Minnesota," warned ominously that current immigration policy would lead to an outbreak of elected Muslims in this country and unfettered use of the Koran.
Forget that Muslims represent a small fraction of immigrants to America. And leave aside the obvious point that Mr. Goode was evidently napping in class the day they taught the traditional American values of tolerance, diversity and religious freedom. This country's history is rife with instances of uncivil, hateful and violent behavior toward newcomers, be they Jewish, Irish, Italian or plenty of others whose ethnicities did not jibe with some pinched view of what it means to be American. Mr. Goode's dimwitted outburst of nativism is nothing new.
No, the real worry for the nation is that the rest of the world might take Mr. Goode seriously, interpreting his biased remarks about Muslims as proof that America really has embarked on a civilizational war against Islam. With 535 members, you'd think that Congress would welcome the presence of a single Muslim representative. Whether it can afford a lawmaker of Mr. Goode's caliber is another question.
New York Times Editorial - December 23, 2006
Fear and bigotry in Congress
Besides Santa Claus, the Christmas season usually brings some reminder that the worst way to acknowledge the importance of religious faith in America is by demanding that the entire nation follow one particular theology. Last year it was the war over the nonexistent "war on Christmas." This year, it's the flap over whether one newly elected member of Congress can use the Koran rather than the Bible next month in a private ceremony.
Keith Ellison, who converted to Islam when he was in college, will be the first Muslim member of the House of Representatives come January. He and his new colleagues will take the oath of office as a group, and then repeat it in private for the benefit of family and friends. It is only in that second ceremony that the Bible comes into play, and to the extent that it has a significance, we suspect Mr. Ellison's constituents in Minnesota would like to see him using a book that best represents his religious beliefs.
Not so for a radio talk host named Dennis Prager, who claimed that using the Koran would "embolden Islamic extremists." Then Representative Virgil Goode Jr. of Virginia announced that his concerns went beyond the erosion of the Bible's exclusive rights to be sworn on. Mr. Goode is bothered by Mr. Ellison's faith in general, and wrote a letter to his constituents saying that this was a wake-up call about the danger that there would be "many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran" unless immigration laws were tightened……
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/23/opinion/23sat3.html
New York Times - December 23, 2006
Bush is urged to act on criticism of Muslim
By RACHEL L. SWARNS
White House officials said they were aware that some Democrats and Muslims were urging President Bush to admonish Representative Virgil H. Goode Jr., Republican of Virginia, and Dennis Prager, the conservative commentator, for suggesting that the first Muslim elected to the House had no place in Congress. “We’re aware of the situation,” said Dana Perino, a spokeswoman for Mr. Bush, “but no judgments have been made.” Mr. Goode said the election of Keith Ellison, a Minnesota lawyer who converted to Islam as a college student, posed a threat to American values. Mr. Prager, a presidential appointee to the board that oversees the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, said Mr. Ellison should not serve if he could not swear on a Bible, though he has apologized for those remarks. Mr. Ellison plans to use the Koran during a private swearing-in ceremony next month.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/23/washington/23brfs-BUSHISURGEDT_BRF.html
|
