I, (state your name), do solemnly swear (or affirm), with my hand on my coffee mug, the newspaper, TV remote or briefcase handle, that by the time the Super Bowl rolls around I will not remember why Keith Ellison is famous, if I even knew at all.

For the record, you know of Ellison, a Democratic freshman congressman from Minnesota and Muslim convert, because in December he announced his intentions to use the Quran in the ceremonial swearing-in photo opportunity and to hold it in his left hand during the official swearing in with the other 434 representatives and 33 senators.

Outrage ensued. Accusations flew. Mud was slung. Utah wasn't spared, as evidenced by the Dec. 6 press briefing with White House press secretary Tony Snow.

"Would he support the Book of Mormon being used to swear in LDS members of Congress if they ever ask for thatfi" a reporter queried about the president, according to the transcript.

Talk continued, including suggestions that an LDS senator had asked to use the Book of Mormon during his oath of office and had been allowed.

The confusion lies with Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Oregon, who in 1997 carried a combination of the Bible and Book of Mormon during his swearing-in, according to USA Today. But there was no laying his hand on it.

It was much ado about nothing for a number of reasons. In the first place, the official swearing-in takes place when all of the representatives and senators stand and repeat the oath at one time with nothing more than their right hands raised. The ceremonial one is simply a photo opportunity.

None of Utah's federal delegation, all of whom identify with the LDS faith, has ever used a Book of Mormon while taking the oath of office. Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch uses the Bible on hand for the ceremony. Republican Sen. Bob Bennett uses a family Bible. Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson doesn't have a ceremonial photo op. Republican Rep. Rob Bishop used a Bible during his ceremonial swearing-in the first time but hasn't bothered with it since, and he doesn't use any book during the actual swearing in. Republican Rep. Chris Cannon has never even bothered with the ceremonial swearing-in on any kind of book.

"The issue has never come up," Joe Hunter, Cannon's chief of staff, said.

Ditto for the LDS Church. It has a few members in the upper echelons of the national government as well as hundreds in state and local governments, but has never addressed the issue, spokesman Scott Trotter said. If a member wants to swear on the Book of Mormon, the church won't endorse or discourage it.

"Since we embrace the Bible, we don't see this as an issue," he said.

On Thursday Ellison officially became the first Muslim serving in Congress when he took the oath of office.

Ellison, characterizing his faith as mainstream American, tried to minimize the media hype over Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va., who'd criticized him about his swearing-in desire, and the Quran, the Associated Press reported.

He challenged an Arab journalist's contention that Americans dislike Muslims and struck a matter-of-fact tone in describing his feelings about making history by swearing on the Quran, the AP reported.

"I haven't really thought about the historical significance of it," he told the AP. "I'm a Muslim. It's my faith."

Photos of the ceremonial oath show Kim Ellison, Ellison's wife, holding a copy of the Quran formerly owned by Thomas Jefferson, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Keith Ellison smile broadly at each other. The world kept turning.

Oath of office facts

John Quincy Adams swore his presidential oath on a book of law.

Theodore Roosevelt didn't use a book at all.

Franklin Pierce and Herbert Hoover both chose to affirm instead of swear.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.