Virgil Goode, December 2006:
Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515-4605 December 7, 2006Dear Xxxxxxx:
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.
Sincerely yours,
Virgil H. Goode, Jr.
70 East Court Street
Suite 215
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151
Hey Virgil,
Have you ever heard of the concept regarding freedom of religion? I am Christian myself, but I do not hold it against someone else if they have beliefs that are different than mine. This country was founded with the idea that all men are created equal and are given certain inalienable rights. We are free to worship whatever we believe in. We are not to be persecuted for any religious belief we might have. We are equal. Christians, Jews, Muslims and anyone else.
In your position, you are supposed to know this. When you take that oath of office, you are sworn, by the Constitution of the United States of America, to protect all citizens and allow them the freedoms accorded with being citizens of this country. Whether you do it with a Bible or a Quran is not the issue. The issue that is critical here is the Constitution. Just because George Bush treats the Constitution with no more respect than a suggestion box, doesn’t give you a license to preach your racist attitude toward others. You must uphold the Constitution and all it stands for. Nowhere in the Constitution will you find any special benefits or freedoms accorded Christians and Jews that are not given to others. There is no law that says a person must be sworn-in with the Bible.
It is very sad to see someone elected to office, in this day and age, who carries the type of racist beliefs that you do. Instead of tossing out insults to people that do not follow the same religion you do, why do you not engage with those people and try to understand them? The people of Minnesota are good people and they elected a man that adheres to the Muslim religion. Those who voted for him knew this ahead of time and they still voted for him. They decided he was the right man for the job. I wonder if the people of Virginia knew they were electing a racist man to office when they voted for you. If they did, that does not say anything good about them.
When you speak of immigration, it is the fear-mongering rhetoric that you use that does us absolutely no good at all. It is quite clear that you are not a very bright person and will not be offering anything of substance to solve the problems our nation faces. We need people that work with others — all others. Here’s to the election cycle in 2008 when people like yourself are voted out of office. Your racist platform has no place in our nation, a nation that needs to repair its international reputation following the debacle that is the Bush administration.
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