So much for the Religious Right's claims about respecting faith! Apparently this only applies to them.
Hindu prayer in the Senate draws protesters - CNN.com
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Three protesters disrupted a prayer by a Hindu chaplain Thursday at the opening of a Senate hearing, calling it an abomination and shouting slogans about Jesus Christ. art.prayer.protest.sentv.jpgIt was the first time the daily prayer that opens Senate proceedings was said by a Hindu chaplain.
Capitol police said two women and one man were arrested and charged with causing a disruption in the public gallery of the Senate. The three started shouting when guest Chaplain Rajan Zed, a Hindu from Nevada, began his prayer. Video Watch the disruption »
They shouted "No Lord but Jesus Christ" and "There's only one true God," and used the term "abomination."
Religious figures from various faiths have said the prayer, which is normally recited by a Christian chaplain.
Barry Lynn, executive director of religious watchdog group Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the protest showed the intolerance of the "religious right."
"I don't think the Senate should open with prayers, but if it's going to happen, the invocations ought to reflect the diversity of the American people," Lynn said in a statement.
advertisementSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid had invited Zed.
"I think it speaks well of our country that someone representing the faith of about a billion people comes here and can speak in communication with our heavenly father regarding peace," he said after the disruption.
And here is this little gem from right wing whack job news site OneNewsNow:
Senate prayer: Starting countdown to judgment?
Ed Thomas OneNewsNow.coJuly 11, 2007 Tomorrow's planned Senate opening invocation by a Hindu chaplain is being called a "watershed" moment in the history of the United States -- but not for good reasons. A spokesman for the American Family Association says it represents an official stamp by the government on paganism, a move which may draw God's anger according to biblical example.Rajan Zed will deliver the prayer and reportedly has said he will include references from at least three Hindu scriptures, marking the first time such a prayer and texts have been used at the Senate since its formation in 1789. Despite that, Zed has stated the prayer will be "universal in approach." (See earlier story)
Buddy Smith is a spokesman forAmerican Family Association, which opposes the non-Christian prayer and urges citizens to call their Washington legislators to take action.
"It is a watershed day in that it brings to mind some of these precedent-setting events like the day that we took prayer and Bible-reading out of school in our country [and] the day that we legalized abortion," Smith offers. "I fear that while God has been so merciful with our country in the past, events such as are about to happen, like this in the U.S. Senate, is angering a just God. I fear that we bring judgment upon our country with such acts."
Smith says he hopes that for conscience sake -- and avoiding what he terms "endorsing a pagan ritual" -- senators will choose to wait for the Hindu chaplain to finish his prayer before coming to the Senate for the day's business. He also recommends Christians pray for the chaplain's salvation, intercede for the nation and ask forgiveness for tomorrow's session, and hold legislators accountable by contacting them in Washington to express disapproval.
First off, Hindus are NOT Pagan! I guess when folks aren't very bright, they lump in all of the things that they don't like or fear as one monolithic entity. (And may I just add, that it would be totally cool if we DID have Pagan spirituality included equally with other observances!)
But let me see if I have this correct: we have had the sorts of prayer that the right wing types approve of for well over 200 years, but just ONE simple, innocous prayer (for 1 brief day) from a faith tradition that isn't their own gives them the right to be rude and disruptive? How do they thing that people of other faiths feel when non-Christians have to sit through listening to Christian prayers? If they expect others to tolerate their faith, then they need to extend the same courtesy to others. Weren't these the same sorts of folks who want to shove their religion down everyone's throats? How fucking arrogant!
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