Debate Brews Over Use of Qur’an in US Court

Well finally a judge standing up for the foundations of American culture. It is ridiculous that CAIR (Mohammedan NGO in America) and the ACLU will promote counter-culture causes that in the long run will harm Americans of dhimmify (Mohammedan 2nd class citizenhood) Americans. Every time a liberal issue that is a rights cause that denigrates America's Chistian heritage, it is a devaluation of truth, justice and the American way. Oh yeah, I forgot that is not politically correct any more.

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Barbara Ferguson
9 December 2005
Arab News ^
ACLU - Topix.net
Posted on 12/09/2005 12:56:14 AM PST by kipita

WASHINGTON, 9 December 2005 — Here in the United States, witnesses taking the stand in a court of law traditionally are asked to swear to tell the truth — by placing their right hand on the Bible.

So when Muslims in Guilford County, North Carolina, tried to donate copies of the Qur’an for courtroom use, Chief District Court Judge Joseph Turner rejected the proposal.

Taking an oath on the Qur’an is not allowed by North Carolina state law, he said, which specifies that witnesses shall place their hands on the “Holy Scriptures,” which he interprets as the Christian Bible.

“We’ve been doing it that way for 200 years,” he told reporters. “Until the legislature changes that law, I believe I have to do what I’ve been told to do in the statutes.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations and the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the decision by the Guilford County Courts.

“This was the first time that we had a judge... going on record and stating unilaterally what is a holy scripture and what is not — what we believe to be a violation of the establishment clause,” said Arsalan Iftikhar, legal director of CAIR.

The anticipated decision comes four months after the ACLU of North Carolina and CAIR filed a lawsuit asking a judge to clarify that state law allows people to swear on religious texts other than the Christian Bible. The lawsuit followed objections made this summer over the inability of Muslims to be sworn in Guilford County courts using the Qur’an.
When the state Administrative Office of the Courts declined to intervene, the ACLU and CAIR took the issue to court, arguing that the term “Holy Scriptures” is broad enough to include many religious texts.

Local papers report that the state attorney general’s office initially argued in court papers that the ACLU and CAIR lacked the right to sue because there is no controversy to settle between the parties.

Source: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1536959/posts