Refuting Congressman Keith Ellison's Claims About Thomas Jefferson

My nine-year-old son stomps off into the woods, walking stick in hand, playing an imaginary adventure game where he's off to vanquish the bad guys, singing,

From the halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli
We fight our country's battles
On the land as on the sea.
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean,
We are proud to claim the title
Of United States Marine!

I wonder where he learned the Marine Hymn? His dad is a former Navy Nuke, and we've no Marines in the family. Possibly from an old black-and-white John Wayne flick on a snowbound Saturday afternoon? While I'm smiling at my little boy's game, his song also ignites a flicker of worry about his future and the future of all free people in this post-911 world.

Democrat Keith Ellison, who represents the Fifth Congressional District of Minnesota and is the first Muslim to serve as a United States congressman, in a slick political move recently placed his hand on a copy of the Quran that belonged to Thomas Jefferson while taking the oath of office. In explaining his actions, Ellison claimed that he used the Quran to be sworn into the United States House of Representatives because the Islamic holy book helped influence the founding fathers of America. Not surprising in our free and open society that strives to embrace people of all races, creeds, and religions, a lot of Americans are hailing this as a banner moment for religious freedom, comforting themselves with the thought that if Thomas Jefferson had a copy of the Quran, then that's as good as the founding father's stamp of approval from the great beyond.

The copy of Jefferson's Quran, used by Ellison as a prop in during his ceremonial swearing-in, is part of Thomas Jefferson's archive at the Rare Book Section of the Library of Congress. The Quran is one of 6,500 books Jefferson archived in the Library of Congress.