Land of the Free?

I am, as I have mentioned before, not a student of our constitution or of our government system in general. But it seems to me that starting in grades school our teachers drove into our little brains that the country was built on the premise of "freedom of religion", amoung others. To me that means folks have the right to pray to whom/whatever form of god or idol or tree or rock that they wish, or not. And they can do so without fear of persecution.

Yesterday evening, during my drive home from work, I listened to a story on NPR that just... just disillusioned me yet again about the people we have elected to run this great country of ours.

Incoming Rep. Keith Ellison intends to use a Quran at his unofficial swearing-in ceremony. But the Minnesota Democrat is being criticized by some who say he should use a Bible. Ellison is the first Muslim elected to Congress.

One of the most vocal voices in this debate is from the esteemed republican from Virginia who apparently wants to stop this non-sence. He wants to stop illegal immigration in order to stop muslims from immigrating and thus Muslims will not be elected and then would not swear the oath of office on anything but the bible. He says it is "Un-American" ....

And folks think Muslims are fanatical!