[Vision2020] Sali Clarifies Comments on Faith, Colleague

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (August 11, 2007) Spokesman Review -

"Sali said, 'We have not only a Hindu prayer being offered in the Senate, we
have a Muslim member of the House of Representatives now, Keith Ellison from
Minnesota. Those are changes - and they are not what was envisioned by the
Founding Fathers.'

. . .

Sali was quickly attacked by blogs around the country, including
ThinkProgress.org, which pointed out that the founders wrote Article VI,
which states that 'no religious test shall ever be required as a
qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.'"

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Sali clarifies comments on faith, colleague 
Says founders worked on Christian principles

Gregory Hahn 
Idaho Statesman

Idaho congressman Bill Sali said Friday that a Minnesota Muslim congressman
has every right to serve in Washington, D.C., but he hopes the country's
leaders continue to follow Christian principles. 

Sali said his comments quoted on a conservative Web site should not have
given the impression that Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison did not belong in
Congress. 

"He got elected the same way I did," Sali said in a phone interview. "People
certainly have the right to elect anyone they want." 
 
In an interview posted online this week by the Christian news outlet
American Family News Network, Sali said, "We have not only a Hindu prayer
being offered in the Senate, we have a Muslim member of the House of
Representatives now, Keith Ellison from Minnesota. Those are changes - and
they are not what was envisioned by the Founding Fathers. The principles
that this country was built on, that have made it great over these
centuries, were Christian principles derived from scriptures. You know, the
Lord can cause the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike." 

Sali was quickly attacked by blogs around the country, including
ThinkProgress.org, which pointed out that the founders wrote Article VI,
which states that "no religious test shall ever be required as a
qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." 

Ellison, a Democrat, was elected in 2006 as the first Muslim in Congress.

"The congressman just doesn't respond to comments like that," said an
Ellison spokesman, Micah Clemens, in an e-mail.

Sali said that he has met fellow freshman Ellison and that he would call him
to clarify what he was trying to say. 

"I think that Keith deserves a call from me - not necessarily because of
what's in my heart or in my mind, but because of how it's been portrayed,"
Sali said. 

But Sali said he thinks the country's Founding Fathers created a government
based on Christian principles, and the best course into the future is to
follow these ideas. The country's creators fought for the "principles found
in scripture," he said. "The dangerous part is straying from these
principles." 

"The idea that somehow we can move to multiculturalism and still remain the
same - I think that's a little dangerous, too," he said. "From my
standpoint, I believe the Founding Fathers were overwhelmingly Christian and
the God they were talking about is the God of the Bible." 

Sali said his policy discussions with people of other faiths would start
with core principles, but religion could play a role. 

"I would say, 'These are principles that I think are important,' and if he
agrees with those, great," he said. "At the end of the game, maybe it does
get down to religious beliefs and how they impact how you make public
policy." 

Sali's Boise political ally, conservative advocate Bryan Fischer, said
Sali's "caution with regard to Islam and public policy is wise." 

"The citizens of Minnesota certainly have the right to send anybody to
Washington they wish, but when you examine nations whose public institutions
have been shaped by Islamic politicians, you find no freedom of religion, no
freedom of speech, no freedom of conscience, no fundamental rights for
women, and no freedom for ordinary citizens to choose their leaders,"
Fischer said in a release from his group, Idaho Values Alliance.

"If an Islamic-inspired worldview were to shape America's public policy,
this country would be a far different land than the one handed to us by our
Founding Fathers," Fischer continued. "It would no longer be the 'sweet land
of liberty' of which we sing. That's not the kind of nation we want, and
Rep. Sali is right on target in issuing his word of caution."

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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"People walking up to you
Singing glory hallelujah
And they're trying to sock it to you
In the name of the Lord."

- Joe South (from "Games People Play")
 
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