AFP/File Photo: Newly elected congressman Keith Ellison, D-MN, is seen on Capitol Hill in November 2006. Congressman...WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US lawmaker stirred up controversy when he expressed uneasiness over the election of a Muslim to serve with him in the House of Representatives, which he said endangered "the values and beliefs traditional" to the United States.
"The Muslim representative from Minnesota (Keith Ellison) was elected by the voters of that district, and if American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration, there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran" in their swearing-in ceremonies, Goode said in a letter to one of his associates, sent to AFP Wednesday.
The powerful Muslim rights group CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, demanded an apology from Goode in response to the letter.
"Representative Goode's Islamophobic remarks send a message of intolerance that is unworthy of anyone elected to public office," said CAIR National Legislative Director Corey Saylor. "There can be no reasonable defense for such bigotry."
Goode's spokesman said the lawmaker stood by his letter and would not offer any apology.
Ellison was also ordered by a conservative radio commentator, Dennis Prager, to take his oath of office using the Bible rather than the Koran.
"Mr. Ellison: America, not you, decides on what book its public servants take their oath," argued Prager, adding that taking the oath using the Muslim holy book would disqualify Ellison from serving in Congress.
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