Zohran Mamdani stood there, took his oath, and placed his hand on the Qur’an. The reaction from politicians and commentators was scripted before it happened. They called it historic and meaningful. And boasted how this is diversity working exactly as planned. If you paused, even for a second, you were told to shut it down because it was just a ceremony and only extremists care about symbolism.

That is exactly how cultures rot – one small thing at a time – with lectures attached telling you not to notice.

AOC: New York, we have chosen courage over fear . We have chosen prosperity for the many over spoils for the few. When the entrenched ways would rather have us dig in our feet and seek refuge in the past, we have chosen instead to turn towards making a new future for all of us. pic.twitter.com/7GpdWI3lqG

— Acyn (@Acyn) January 1, 2026

What he means is…

They’ll replace Christianity with Islam…
They’ll replace the Bible with the Quran…
They’ll replace Constitutional law with Sharia…
They’ll replace freedom with oppression….

They will replace us…

And don’t be surprised when you suddenly become one of us… https://t.co/fZNSnWuWhq

— Popeye (@likigivafok) January 2, 2026

Symbols Aren’t Harmless. They’re Road Signs.

We are supposed to believe that it makes no difference what book a leader swears on, because the words matter and the object doesn’t. That is a comforting lie.

Symbols expose what a society now respects, who it answers to, and which ideas it is quietly replacing. When everything is considered interchangeable, it means nothing is anchored anymore. That is not tolerance. It’s drift.

The founders were not trying to create a religious state, but they were building on a belief that human rights come from God and not from whoever happens to hold political power. That belief tied the government’s hands. It told leaders there was a line they had no right to cross. Remove that belief, and government becomes the source of permission instead of the protector of liberty. That is the trade we are currently making, and we pretend it is harmless.

The Bible still appears in ceremonies, but it is there like a stage prop. It’s tolerated, not taken seriously. Other belief systems walk into the same space fully confident, absolutely convinced they belong, and determined to shape what comes next. Zoran Mamdani has straight out told us.

Diversity Was the Promise. Replacement Became the Reality.

We were told diversity was about inclusion. What we’re seeing instead is replacement. The roots that shaped our country are treated as baggage, and anyone who objects gets labeled as fearful or hateful, so they’ll stop talking. Meanwhile, the guardrails that once limited government and protected conscience get weaker with every symbolic change we’re told not to care about.

Mamdani’s use of the Qur’an for his three (yes, three) oath-takings was indicative of the ever-widening divide in American politics. Mamdani’s “supporters said the moment reflects the city’s diversity and a ‘turning point’ for Muslim representation in civic life,” while his critics “argued the symbolism underscores how radically New York politics has shifted away from America’s Judeo-Christian roots.”

Many, if not most, Americans today would likely side with Mamdani and his supporters on this one. Many don’t see any problem with it in light of the fact that the custom of having elected officials be sworn in on the Bible is just a custom, not a matter of law. So why shouldn’t people who aren’t Jews or Christians be able to be sworn in on the holy book of their choice? Opposition to this idea is routinely dismissed as bigotry: aging white Christian Americans desperately trying to maintain their cultural and political hegemony, futilely fight against the inexorable, relentless march of history. – PJ Media

We’re Not Being Conquered. We’re Giving It Away.

In that same PJ Media article, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville warned that the enemy is already inside the gates. He wasn’t wrong. But instead of taking the warning seriously, people laughed and dismissed it as bigotry and racism. That’s always easier than admitting the truth — that what we’re watching isn’t courage or “progress.” It’s the quiet surrender of the very foundations that once made this country different.

This is why Mamdani’s oath matters. Not because of one man. But because it reveals the direction of the culture and the speed at which it is willing to discard the beliefs that once held everything together.

We love to tell ourselves that America is strong enough to survive anything. Maybe it is. But no country survives long once it decides its own foundations are optional. Or we keep moving the line by telling ourselves it’s just a small change.

That is where we are now. We treat the beliefs that built our freedoms like outdated furniture, then act offended when someone notices what we are dragging to the curb.

This Is About Power, Not Politeness

This isn’t a debate about ceremony. And it’s not about niceness or inclusion. It’s about the quiet replacement of the worldview that once restrained power. Civilization doesn’t collapse overnight. It fades into something unrecognizable, while people insist nothing important has changed.

So yes, it matters. It matters what leaders swear on, what they honor, and it matters what we allow to be treated as disposable. Before anyone rushes in to remind me that Donald Trump once took the oath without placing his hand on the Bible, I will simply point out that at least the Bible was present.

The enemy inside the gates is the belief that we can trade our roots for something entirely different and somehow stay the same country.

We won’t. And when the consequences arrive, nobody will get to say they weren’t warned.

Nina also wrote this morning about Mamdani’s distaste for rugged individualism and his push for something he calls “warm collectivism.” Notice how the language works. First, individual liberty becomes selfish. Then collective control gets marketed as compassionate. This is exactly how cultural rewrites happen. You soften the rhetoric, change the symbols, and hope no one connects the dots.

This is not collapse happening overnight. It is surrender disguised as progress. Decide now whether you’re fine with it, because pretending not to see it will not protect you.

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