Which Bible will Barak use at his inauguration?

[Lochloosa]

Poll question: Which Bible will Barak use at his inauguration?

[WinkyDink]

1. His GRANDMOTHER'S.

[Lochloosa]

2. Damn. Forgot about that one.

[MichDem10]

4. I second the motion!

[Justice]

8. I agree with you on that.

[yasmina27]

29. Yes! n/t

[bunkerbuster1]

3. A KORAN!!!1!!! cuz heez a SOOPER SECKRET MOOOZLEM!!!!11!!

oops, wrong forum.

[harun]

5. You mean it won't be on a first edition of Das Kapital?

[rdublue]

6. The president should be sworn in on the Constitution, that's what they are sworn to uphold

just my $.02(when the hell did we get rid of that little cent thingy on a keyboard?)

[nickinSTL]

16. absolutely.

I can tell you, the Constitution means a hell of a lot more to me than any religious text.

When it comes to governing, the same should be true of any politician...of course, in this ultra pro-Christian climate, even if a politician felt that way, they couldn't say so publicly. :mad:

[frogbison]

18. ¢

On my Mac, it's "option" and "$" that gets you a cent sign.

[RC]

27. ALT+0162 will do it.

Take it up with IBM & M$

[Joiwind]

7. Frederick Douglass' or WEB DuBois

>>>both of whom where intimate with its contents

[MadBadger]

9. The One with Allah on It

DUHHHHH

[-..__...]

10. Someone else here suggested the Mendi Bible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendi_Bible

[KitSileya]

15. That's a very good suggestion.

I do think he'll use his grandmother's bible in January, tho', just because of its personal significance, but I think your suggestion will be followed on Jan, 20, 2013.

[Rose Siding]

11. Ann Nixon Cooper's would be a meaningful choice, too.

But Lincoln's I'd bet.

[zbdent]

12. Jefferson's isn't on the list ...

[JohnMcCant2008]

13. the Constitution? he can put his hand over the "separation of Church and State" bit.....

[yellowcanine]

31. I would like to see that. It would be entirely appropriate. I am thinking some have done that,

though maybe not a President. It would also be a two-fer, because the fundies would have a hard time criticizing him for using the Constitution, since that is after all what the oath is about.

[Billy Burnett]

14. Hegemony or Survival

That'll get the repugs squirming.

[onehandle]

17. The Communist Manifesto. nt

[tomg]

19. This is a fascinating question.

While I don't have the vaguest idea, his choice will say an enormous amount about him and, I think, the direction of his presidency, at least in some aspects. His grandmother's places it in one context regarding who he is, while to choose King's says another. Clearly Lincoln's says something else. I had never heard of the Mendi Bible which D_S noted upthread, nor had Ann Nixon Cooper's come to mind.

Great question. In some ways, I think, it is probably the most important purely symbolic choice Obama will make ( don't mean to overstate the case - as an agnostic, I don't have a theological horse in the race; as someone who often teaches lit. theory, I am really going to enjoy thinking about this).

[Mariana]

20. I wish he'd use the Constitution.

[RC]

30. I will second that

All In favor say "Aye"
All opposed say same sign.

Come on people, what's wrong with using the Constitution you are swearing to uphold instead of a book of myths of a peculiar religion?

[No Elephants]

21. If his extended family or Michelle's has a family bible, it will be that one. Otherwise, I suspect

that MLK III will lend him one.

[RichardRay]

22. Maybe a brand new one?

He could go to a store that sells Bibles and pick out one that appeals to him - after that it would be Barack's Bible. It could be the Bible he carries to church, reads when he feels the need for that kind of input and passes on when he goes.

[Nikki Stone1]

23. The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

:)

[JohnMcCant2008]

28. RAmen to that!

[TheBigotBasher]

24. One book of fairy tales is as much of a muchness

but as he defeated a load of bigotry thrown at him via his former Pastor, Rev Wright.

Regardless of what came out of this campaign is how both during the Primaries and the General Election, there were those who set out to destroy someone who should be classed an American Hero not a figure of hate. The fact Obama won against that and thus broke the Rove playbook is good enough reason to use his bible.

[H2O Man]

25. The Kennedy family bible. n/t

[TayTay]

26. The Mendi Bible, it represents hope and democracy

Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts took his oath of office with one hand placed on the historic Mendi Bible. In his inaugural address he spoke of this and what it meant:

Our founders came on the Mayflower, the Arabella, and the early clipper ships. But there were other boats, too. There was the Amistad and her cargo of kidnapped Africans, who commandeered the ship to sail home to Africa, but who were seized in Long Island Sound and imprisoned in New Haven.

On this very day 165 years ago, a young man named Kinna, who had been part of that rebellion, sent a letter from prison to our own John Quincy Adams, who had retired from public life at home in Massachusetts.

Kinna pleaded with Adams to help the 36 captives from his ship to earn their freedom. Adams took the case all the way to the United States Supreme Court and won.

As a gesture of thanks and respect, the Africans gave Adams a Bible, called the Mendi Bible, after their tribal homeland.

I took the oath this morning with my hand resting on that same Bible -- and with my resolve strengthened by that same legacy. I am descended from people once forbidden their most basic and fundamental freedoms, a people desperate for a reason to hope and willing to fight for it. And so are you. So are you. Because the Amistad was not just a Black man's journey; it was an American journey. This Commonwealth – and the Nation modeled on it – is at its best when we show we understand a faith in what's possible, and the willingness to work for it.

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov3modulechunk&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Agov3&b=terminalcontent&f=inaugural_address&csid=Agov3">Gov Deval Patrick, Jan. 4, 2007

The move Amistad recounts the events briefly related here. These captives sued for their freedom and won. They took their case through the US legal system, a system heavily staked against them, and won. They never gave up. The Mendi Bible is a symbol of that hope and their struggle.