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Ah, the discomfiture of the Right, when faced with the incontrovertibles.

If we combine this little tidbit of history, combines with the debates that accompanied the development of the First Amendment, the Memorial and Remonstrance delivered to the General Assembly of Virginia by James Madison, and an accurate reading of the various Federalist Papers, we find a lot more religious tolerance in our founding days than we often see among the ultraconservatives engaging in the pseudo-culture wars of today.

Secondly, I am disturbed by some of the more sarcastic and sardonic comments added to this post (i.e. “this is a smelly political stunt” and “Subjugation of women? Execution of gays? Elimination of political freedom? Forced coversion of atheists to Islam (or death)?”) that demonstrate an ignorance (or a scorning) of our history, our culture and the first principles and spiritual values embedded and embodied in our Constitution.

Thirdly, I am impressed by the congressman’s commitment to his faith and office. In Islamic tradition, a Muslim that takes an oath on the Qu’ran will not be forgiven or given any mercy if that oath is not fulfilled. There was a time when an oath meant something in our society, especially when sworn on something held sacred. Today, however, oaths are scorned, ignored or viewed as a de facto procedure for obtaining a job. This scornful view of taking an oath is probably the reason so many military officers have not stood up for the Constitution in accordance with their oath of office by presenting legitimate questions about the conduct of our nation in Iraq. It is also probably the reason why so many congressman–senators and reps–failed to question the casting aside of basic hyman rights and guaranteed civil liberties when passing the USA Patriot Act, yacitly endorsing or condoning the violations of FISA, the failure to challenge so-called “signing statements” that circumvent the rule of law, etc.

The scornful view of taking an oath may also be the root cause of the influence peddling/brokering that brought about the plague of scandals in congress, the White House, the SEC, the FCC, and the murders and conduct unbecoming by soldiers at Abu Ghraib, Gitmo and elsewhere.

Given that 90% of our citizens in America report to have some spiritual and/or religious conviction, I would think that some modicum of respect for any belief system–including those that are pre-supposed to be based on empiricism–would be a norm for anyone claiming to be scholarly, well-educated, reasoned and measured.

Foirthly, it never ceases to amaze me how many people living in the US–born to citizenship in where most people look for leadership in democracy (depite events and conditions to the contrary)–are ignorant of the history, the principles and the values that were embedded into our Constitution by men who were often bitterly embroiled in debate and conflict over making sure that the problems of autocracy, monarchy, theocracy and fascism were limited in scope and possibility by creating a form of government that guranteed certain rights. Are we becoming a nation so ignorant of our most sacred values that we will soon surrender our freedom as well as our first principles? I am concerned that we may soon see so many divisions and so many efforts to control the views, values and beliefs of others that the “great experiment” will fail. Since I stay in touch with a number of scholars from around the world I often receive e-mail expressing the same concerns from those on the outside looking in.