The flap over Keith Ellison not wanting to be sworn in (in an entirely ceremonial, non-official event) as a U.S. Representative while using the Bible is really exciting the Christian Nationalists. For them, this encapsulates so much of what their movement is about: combining Christianity and American nationalism into a single cohesive ideology which excludes everyone else.

Currently they may be arguing that a person cannot serve public office without swearing on a Bible (and therefore also swearing to the Judeo-Christian conception of their god), but their arguments ultimately go much further. They would deny Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, and of course atheists from ever serving public office. They would even deny public office to Jews who would rather swear on the Torah. How long before they try to insist on which version and translation of the Bible will be acceptable?

Roy Moore, of the infamous Alabama Ten Commandments monument, expresses the views of Christian Nationalism in a predictably clear and bigoted manner:

Can a true believer in the Islamic doctrine found in the Quran swear allegiance to our Constitution? Those who profess a sincere belief in Allah say "no!" ... The Islamic faith rejects our God and believes that the state must mandate the worship of its own god, Allah.

Our Constitution states, "Each House [of Congress] shall be the judge ... of the qualifications of its own members." Enough evidence exists for Congress to question Ellison's qualifications to be a member of Congress as well as his commitment to the Constitution in view of his apparent determination to embrace the Quran and an Islamic philosophy directly contrary to the principles of the Constitution.

But common sense alone dictates that in the midst of a war with Islamic terrorists we should not place someone in a position of great power who shares their doctrine. In 1943, we would never have allowed a member of Congress to take their oath on "Mein Kampf," or someone in the 1950s to swear allegiance to the "Communist Manifesto." Congress has the authority and should act to prohibit Ellison from taking the congressional oath today!

Source: World Net Daily

Roy Moore doesn't specifically say that atheists are unfit for public office, nor does he mention anyone but Keith Ellison, but the exclusion of everyone but Christians like him is the logical conclusion of his arguments. Atheists are used to being told this, I suppose, since several state constitutions technically bar atheists from holding office (those provisions are no longer enforceable, but we all know that no one is brave enough to recommend repealing them).

The Carpetbagger Report comments:

But perhaps it’d be fun to take Moore’s argument to the next level. Extrapolating from his thesis, the United States is at war against religious extremists. Fundamentalists who believe that every word of their holy text is literally true, and who have no tolerance for those who disagree, have become our enemy, and must be shunned. Their way is simply not our way.

By this logic, aren’t there a few dozen Republican lawmakers in Congress — allies of Roy Moore, incidentally — who should be blocked from taking their seats in the 110th also?

Religious extremism is a threat to liberty, democracy, and peace all over the world. Many Americans tend to focus most on Muslim extremists, but we have plenty of Christian extremists in America as well. Fortunately they don't possess too much political and cultural power, but they do have influence with those who do have power and they are given prominent stages from which they can express their views — and generally without much condemnation or dissent from the general public.