THOSE who follow local politics here in Charlottesville are used to seeing the local congressman, Republican Rep. Virgil Goode, show up in the news now and again. But students might have been surprised over the break to see our representative making national headlines.
In response to a newly elected Minnesota congressman's announcement that, as a Muslim, he wanted to be sworn in using the Quran rather than the Bible, Goode sent out letters to his constituents declaring, "When I raise my hand to take the oath on Swearing In Day, I will have the Bible in my other hand. I do not subscribe to using the Koran in any way. The Muslim Representative from Minnesota 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."
At first glance, the statement is rather puzzling. Keith Ellison, the "Muslim Representative from Minnesota," is an American citizen who was born in Detroit and converted to Islam in college, so the connection to immigration (and later in the letter, illegal immigration) seems almost like a mistake. But in Goode's mind there is no error. His statements reveal an ideology that at best fundamentally mischaracterizes American values and at worst amounts to blatant bigotry.
First of all, Goode seems unable or unwilling to distinguish between the vast majority of Muslims who practice their religion peaceably and with respect for their neighbors and the militant minority who seek to impose their radical interpretation of Islam on others by violent means. In an op-ed published in USA Today, Goode wrote that if the United States doesn't crack down on both illegal immigration and legal immigration from the Middle East, "we are leaving ourselves vulnerable to infiltration by those who want to mold the United States into the image of their religion."
These are bogeyman tactics. Without a doubt, a leaky immigration system that might give terrorists access to the country poses a grave threat that Congress needs to address. But immigration reform is needed to protect Americans, not their values. Muslims, who make up only a small portion of immigrants to this country, should be and are judged on the same criteria used for all other immigrants: whether or not they pose a threat to the security of the United States.
This is far from the first time an American politician has used nativist arguments to scare voters into thinking their culture is in danger of being diluted and destroyed by the immigrant hordes. Goode, however, takes the argument one step further by so strongly thrusting religion into the mix. Although he claims he doesn't support a religious test for members of Congress, in effect he alleges that by keeping Muslims out of the country and thereby out of positions of power we can protect the "Judeo-Christian principles that have made us a beacon for freedom-loving persons around the world."
Other conservatives have matched Goode's rhetoric. Radio talk show host Dennis Prager wrote recently that Ellison's use of the Koran "undermines American civilization," and continued, "Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible."
Prager was right, in that America is interested primarily in the values contained in one document. But that document is the Constitution, and it enshrines the values that really have made the people of this country free and prosperous: equality, liberty and tolerance, especially where religion is concerned. For sure, Christian and Judaic values have shaped many of our laws and conventions, and they play a vital role in ensuring that the vast power of our government stays within moral bounds. But what makes our country free is that its citizens can live their lives almost entirely as they please, and that includes the right to choose whatever religious values one prefers. In short, democracy and freedom have nothing to do with Jesus, or with Abraham or Mohammad, for that matter.
These are the values that the terrorists truly target. They seek to impose their own orthodoxy on those whose values differ from their own. Ironically enough, it's something they seem to have in common with Goode.
A.J. Kornblith's column appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at akornblith@cavalierdaily.com.
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