WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- The first Muslim elected to U.S. Congress has raised a conservative's hackles with his decision to take the oath of office with his holy book, the Koran.
In a column posted on Townhall.com, a conservative Web site, Dennis Prager ripped Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison's decision to take the oath of office Jan. 4 with his hand on the Koran, not a Christian Bible, USA Today reports.
"He should not be allowed to do so," Prager wrote, "not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American culture."
Ellison was unavailable for comment. He was earlier quoted in the online Minnesota Monitor saying: "The Constitution guarantees for everyone to take the oath of office on whichever book they prefer. And that's what the freedom of religion is all about."
Members of the House of Representatives traditionally raise their right hands and are sworn in together on the floor of the chamber.
Prager said no Mormon elected official has ever requested to use the Book of Mormon. However, Rep. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., carried a volume that included the Bible and the Book of Mormon at his swearing-in ceremony in 1997.
