Text of Letter Sent by Virginia Rep. Goode to Constituents Warning of Muslim Immigration
WASHINGTON _ Letter written by Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Va.) in response to constituents commenting on Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) using a Koran to take the oath of office:
Thank you for your recent communication.
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.
We need to stop illegal immigration totally and reduce legal immigration and end the diversity visas policy pushed hard by President Clinton and allowing many persons from the Middle East to come to this country.
I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped.
The Ten Commandments and "In God We Trust" are on the wall in my office. A Muslim student came by the office and asked why I did not have anything on my wall about the Koran. My response was clear, "As long as I have the honor of representing the citizens of the 5th District of Virginia in the United States House of Representatives, The Koran is not going to be on the wall of my office." Thank you again for your email and thoughts.
Alright, now it's time for my opinion. I didn't join the military to let people get excluded. Yes, stop illegal immigration, that's all fine and dandy, But when you step on religion... anyone's religion, that's when I get pissed. I do not care to which god/gods you pray to. I do not care if you even believe in a higher power or not. In this country you are free to believe what you want. That is why I love this country so much.
Now if ppl want to elect a person into an office, and that person is Muslim... why is there a problem? I'm pretty sure that he was elected, not because of his religion, but because of his platform (which can be seen at http://www.keithellison.org/issues.htm ).
That this man went so far as to actually, not only exclude a religion, but to disrespect it's writings as well is beyond comprehension for me. I am serving my country, so that it can stay free. Free from tyranny, from persecution, freedom of speech (which means that you can say what you're gonna say, but it also means that I get to say what I'm gonna say after that), and above all of these, the freedom of religion, to believe what one finds true in their heart. I am astounded that someone in a position of authority, that was elected to his position, would say something so inured in hate. If I was in his district, I know that I would be calling for a vote of no confidence, but i am not, so i am stuck here with this rant.
I do know that I will be writing my congressman about Rep. Goode. And I hope that others will be doing the same.
james
p.s..- I'm not even a democrat, and i probably would not have voted for Rep-elect ellison. But that is most definetely not the point of this rant.
WASHINGTON _ Letter written by Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Va.) in response to constituents commenting on Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) using a Koran to take the oath of office:
Thank you for your recent communication.
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.
We need to stop illegal immigration totally and reduce legal immigration and end the diversity visas policy pushed hard by President Clinton and allowing many persons from the Middle East to come to this country.
I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped.
The Ten Commandments and "In God We Trust" are on the wall in my office. A Muslim student came by the office and asked why I did not have anything on my wall about the Koran. My response was clear, "As long as I have the honor of representing the citizens of the 5th District of Virginia in the United States House of Representatives, The Koran is not going to be on the wall of my office." Thank you again for your email and thoughts.
Alright, now it's time for my opinion. I didn't join the military to let people get excluded. Yes, stop illegal immigration, that's all fine and dandy, But when you step on religion... anyone's religion, that's when I get pissed. I do not care to which god/gods you pray to. I do not care if you even believe in a higher power or not. In this country you are free to believe what you want. That is why I love this country so much.
Now if ppl want to elect a person into an office, and that person is Muslim... why is there a problem? I'm pretty sure that he was elected, not because of his religion, but because of his platform (which can be seen at http://www.keithellison.org/issues.htm ).
That this man went so far as to actually, not only exclude a religion, but to disrespect it's writings as well is beyond comprehension for me. I am serving my country, so that it can stay free. Free from tyranny, from persecution, freedom of speech (which means that you can say what you're gonna say, but it also means that I get to say what I'm gonna say after that), and above all of these, the freedom of religion, to believe what one finds true in their heart. I am astounded that someone in a position of authority, that was elected to his position, would say something so inured in hate. If I was in his district, I know that I would be calling for a vote of no confidence, but i am not, so i am stuck here with this rant.
I do know that I will be writing my congressman about Rep. Goode. And I hope that others will be doing the same.
james
p.s..- I'm not even a democrat, and i probably would not have voted for Rep-elect ellison. But that is most definetely not the point of this rant.
dickiev:
My favorite part of the whole thing was that he was sworn in on a koran owned by THOMAS JEFFERSON!!!! I guess in Virginia they don't test a persons IQ before they are allowed to run for office. I with you, freedom of religion is one of the founding priciples of this country. Thanks for your service in defense of our constitution.