Virgil Goode Must Go

Rep. Virgil Goode from my state of Virginia has crossed the line. The letter he wrote to his constituents was misguided and bigoted. This former Democrat turned Republican has disgraced my state and he belongs on the same trash heap as George Allen. To say that any religion is not welcome in this country is simply un-American. Rep. Ellison of Minnesota should be allowed to swear his oath on any book he wants whether it be a Koran, a Bible, or a copy of Mad Magazine. It is wrong to force someone to swear an oath on someone else's religious document. We want our leaders to respect their oath of office and forcing this nonsense on Ellison is not the way to demonstrate the seriousness of the oath he will take next month.

The Republican Party has been totally silent on this issue because they either agree with this idiot or they are afraid to stand up to racists like Goode because there are so many GOP supporters who are equally misguided. They need to slap this guy down quickly and make a strong statement that America is not in the business of religious bigotry or exclusion. We are represented by protestants, Catholics, Jews, atheists, and now a Muslim - their religious beliefs give them their moral center as well as guiding their actions as human beings. This incident is the perfect example of why we should keep church and state separate - when we don't we alienate the non-believers and limit our freedom to believe what we want to believe or our freedom not to believe at all.