BIBLE, KORAN, DIANETICS...WHATEVER

A few members of the right, specifically Sean Hannity and Dennis Prager, are engulfed in false outrage over newly elected Illinois congressman Keith Ellison’s decision to have his swearing in photo-opt with his hand on a copy of the Koran, rather than the Bible.
They claim that this action, by our country’s first Muslim congressman, “undermines American civilization,” and if we allow him to choose “his favorite book” to be sworn in on, then what’s to stop a congressman from being sworn in on a copy of The Book Of Mormans, or Mein Kampf?
I want to address this last point first, because it is so ridiculous. If there existed an elected member of Congress who wished to be sworn in on a copy of Mein Kampf, then this country would have a much bigger problem then his choice of books on which to place his hand for a photo-opt. If a supporter of the Nazi party ever became an elected official in our government, we would be screwed. That would definitely “undermine American civilization.”
It would undermine it because the values preached about in Mein Kompf are in conflict with those that form the basis of American civilization. The Koran, however, does not. The basic values of Islam are very similar to the basic values of America, and if Dennis Prager or Sean Hannity ever read the Koran, they would see that to be true.
However, even that is not the point here, because the United States Constitution, the real basis of our American Civilization, makes no reference to any book that a member of Congress needs to be sworn in on. And more importantly, the very first sentence of the Bill Of Rights says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
So it is pretty clear that not only does the Constitution not require one to place their hand on the BIble when being sworn in, but it expressly states that no one should be denied the right place their hand on any book they choose. There already has been a Congressman who was sworn in with his hand on the Book Of Morman.
To exemplify this point, imagine that an American, Christian soldier, who, after serving a tour of duty in Iraq, decided to live there. And he was elected to the Iraqi Parliament. When he is sworn, should he be allowed to be sworn in on a Bible, instead of the Koran? Even though the Koran is the book that everyone else chooses? Of course he should, just like Keith Ellison should be able to choose the Koran here in America, without any false outrage from Sean Hannity and Dennis Prager.