Bias

   Fox network commentator Jeanine Pirro said on the air that the newly elected Muslim Congresswoman who wears a hijab is more likely to follow sharia law rather than the Constitution.
   That kind of talk is similar to the allegation that John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, was likely to take orders from the Pope rather than follow the Constitution. The fuss was so loud and strong for so long that the candidate had to go on national television to say it ain't so.
   As for those who insist that the U.S. is a Christian nation and therefore its government officials should also be Christian, perhaps they should read the Constitution, where it says, in Article VI in the main body of the document, that "no religious affiliation shall ever be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the United States." In addition, there is the First Amendment ban on establishing an official religion.
   And for those who still insist that the U.S. is a Christian nation, surveys indicate that Christians are a minority in America, outnumbered by agnostics and atheists, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Taoists, Shintoists, Zoroastrians, those of the Baha'i faith and, of course, Muslims and Jews, not to mention Wiccans and the odd Druid here and there. In addition, there are shamanic practitioners who regularly contact their spirit helpers but do not say shamanism is a religion.
   The U.S. Census, by the way, is prohibited by law from asking about religious affiliation, so any numbers  come from the groups themselves or from surveys.