Dennis Prager responds --- Sort of

by

Gerald Plessner

December 24, 2006 - Dennis Prager is issuing the following statement in response to criticism of his comments demanding that a Muslim-American Congressman-elect take his oath of office on a Christian Bible.

"'I completely respect Congressman-Elect Ellison's right to take an oath on the Koran, and regret any language that suggested otherwise,'" Mr. Prager added in a statement, emphasizing that he began reaching out to the Muslims 20 years ago. "'My entire effort in the Keith Ellison matter has been to draw attention to the need to acknowledge the Bible as the basis of America's moral values. Judeo-Christian values are the greatest single protection against another Holocaust.'"

New York Times, December 22, 2006

The statement was initially given by Prager in response to a rebuke from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum executive committee. Prager serves on that board, having been appointed by president George W. Bush.

We applaud the Memorial executive committee for its swift and strong response to Prager's comments, where they wrote that Prager's remarks were, "antithetical to the mission of the museum as an institution promoting tolerance and respect for all peoples regardless of their race, religion or ethnicity."

Prager's response falls far short of what is needed to remedy the harm he has done, not only to America's collective sense of tolerance but also to the rule of law and, particularly to his listener's understanding of the Constitution.

(You can read Prager's initial column of November 28, 2006 at http://www.wordnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53122 and you can read his response to the initial criticism on our website at http://www.geraldplessner.com/articles/article.cgi?doc=20061223193752)

Prager's equally egregious offense was to state that government officials should be required to swear on the Bible when assuming office. This is an explicit challenge to the Constitution which prohibits any religious test for office. Legal commentaries on the Constitution give every indication that such a requirement is a religious test, which is specifically prohibited in Article Six of the Constitution. You would think that a man of Prager's intelligence would know that before he speaks.

For this alone Prager should apologize to all Americans. He should also explain his apology to his wide radio audience, which gets much of its political guidance from listening to him. They need to understand the truth that the Constitution is America's founding document, containing the laws by which we all must abide.

Prager's insensitivity to the impact of his words on his less-informed listeners is astonishing. In spite of what he says in his evasive apology, Prager's own words in his two recent columns speak for themselves. He repeated the same things on the Sean Hannity show on FOX News and in response to early criticism.

Prager seems to believe that America should become some kind of theocracy, basing its laws on the Jewish and Christian Bible. By suggesting that to his listeners he is undermining the rule of law and their respect for our Constitution, America's most important and most sacred document. I believe that to be both morally wrong and unAmerican.

Prager's words have given anti-Moslem bigotry a jump start, just as the rebuke from the Holocaust Museum's executive committee suggests.

Earlier last week, a Virginia Congressman warned that Mr. Ellison's election to the House of Representatives posed a serious threat to America's traditional values.

It is a danger to our country that Americans are being incited by people like Dennis Prager and Sean Hannity to brand people as evil because they are part of a religious group that may contain evil people. By suggesting that all Muslim Americans are potentially evil and possibly disloyal, when their activities as citizens, such as in the case of Congressman-elect Ellison, demonstrate the best in American values, is simply an act of bigotry.

Prager is reported by the New York Times to have said, "Everybody knows there's no bigotry in what I said, but they felt they had to do it." As of this writing there has been no response from the White House to questions about whether Dennis Prager might be replaced on the Holocaust Museums board.

Is there bigotry in what Dennis Prager has said? As they say at FOX News, we report. You decide. And if you think Prager has done harm to America and that his statements are an example of anti-Muslim bigotry, tell him so in an email and attach this article. He can be contacted at dennis@dennisprager.com.

And once again, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gerald Plessner is a Southern California businessman who writes regularly on issues of politics and culture. He would be pleased to hear from you and may be contacted at gerald@geraldplessner.com.