Bruce Feiler - Where God Was Born, Abraham, Walking The Bible

It's Jefferson's Koran! (Updated -- Live on CNN)
Thursday, January 4, 2007

Well, now we know who has the better political skills! Keith Ellison, the new Rep who intends to use the Koran in his inaugural day tomorrow, surely gets the last laugh with his announcement that he intends to use a Koran once owned by Thomas Jefferson. Considering that Jefferson once published his own Bible in which he snipped out all the miracles, this move is unlikely to stop the carping from the Religious Right, but it gets my vote as political move of the year so far!

Here's the key graf from a report on the WaPo:

"He wanted to use a Koran that was special," said Mark Dimunation, chief of the rare book and special collections division at the Library of Congress, who was contacted by the Minnesota Dem early in December. Dimunation, who grew up in Ellison's 5th District, was happy to help.
Jefferson's copy is an English translation by George Sale published in the 1750s; it survived the 1851 fire that destroyed most of Jefferson's collection and has his customary initialing on the pages. This isn't the first historic book used for swearing-in ceremonies -- the Library has allowed VIPs to use rare Bibles for inaugurations and other special occasions.

UPDATE: Those political skills paid off! CNN is carrying Eillison's swearing in on Jefferson's Koran LIVE!! And here's Pelosi showing up. It goes without saying that no one else's private swearing in is being shown.

Labels: Politics in America

Posted by B Feiler at 3:02 PM
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