Milestone: First Muslim Congressman, in US, to be sworn-in using the Koran

RE: Congressman Goode's worry about immigration

"First to be sworn-in using Koran," or is that spelled Quran?

I've seen it both ways.

Life is getting more complicated. English is a complex language, due in part to a lot of words "migrating in" from other languages. Immigration and assimilation of words from all over the world.

Vitality, but complexity as well.

Spelling has never been my strong point.

There is Republican Congressman Virgil Goode's letter expressing fear that if America doesn't tighten up on immigration, a lot more Muslims will be going to Congress.

Yes there is a lot of immigration from parts of the world with high birth rates. Since Goode is a Republican, I ask, "what are Republicans doing for birth control and family planning around the world?"

I am afraid not much.

There are high birth rates in some Islamic countries, also countries where the Catholic Church is big. Most of our immigration comes from Catholic countries, but in Europe, that is a different story. The Europeans are closer to Islamic neighbors.

Keith Ellison is native born anyway.

Church and State

As for the controversy, of course Keith Ellison has the right to be sworn into Congress over what ever text he chooses. We don't have establishment of Christianity, or any other religion by our government.

Some people worry about any religious folks serving in Congress.

One can often feel caught between fundamentalists of Christianity versus fundamentalists of Islam.

Of course there are religious people who aren't fundamentalists. Possibly even the majority of religious people.

Has anyone stopped to ask, "what type of politics does Keith Ellison espouse?" He is a Democrat.

I assume the majority of his district's voters have asked those questions, last November, and were satisfied with his answers. He did win the election.

I wondered what his stands have been on issues like gay rights and woman's rights.

Had not heard anything about this in the media frenzy, so far.

One often hears that women and gay people are not respected in countries with large Muslim populations.

Well, I found the web page keithellison.org, after turning off my radio. Looking up "issues," one finds his stands are quite good, in my opinion.

There are open minded people in all faiths, including Islam.

Our country torn apart by close minded ideologies from overseas?

Islam can be a worry, but so can conservative Christianity.

Several Anglican churches, in the US, have chosen to split from their denomination over the issue of ordination for openly gay bishops. These churches have joined up with a more conservative branch of their denomination. A more conservative branch that in based in Nigeria.

Outside influences from the nation of Nigeria! Can our American way of life survive?

Coincidentally, several of these churches happen to be in the same state that Virgil Goode is from; the state of Virginia.