For the First Time A Koran will be used to Swear in a Representative to the House of Congress

After Representative Elect Keith Ellison will take the official oath of office in a mass ceremony along with all the other incoming members in the House chamber,he will use the Koran in his individual, ceremonial oath with new Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "Keith is paying respect not only to the founding fathers' belief in religious freedom but the Constitution itself," said Ellison spokesman Rick Jauert

But this will be no ordinary Koran, but one that was owned by Thomas Jefferson himself. This book will be loaned by the rare book and special collections division at the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress has loaned rare Bibles to high ranking politicians for inaugurations and other special occasions.

It is significant that the official oath taking does not involve any religion so that separation of chuch and state is maintained. A private ceremony that is meaningful to each individual office holder by not means violates the constitution. What each person chooses to swear upon for a private ceremony should be up to them. It should also be perfectly acceptable to not have a private ceremony as the official oath should be binding enough.