The Daily Background

Well the good news today was that in the spirit of inclusion, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) invited the first Hindu-American clergyman to offer the customary brief prayer that opens business in the Senate.

The bad news today was that this inter-faith show of good faith was met with protests and an outburst- apparently from conservative Christians. Reports the AP:

Rajan Zed, director of interfaith relations at a Hindu temple in Reno, Nev., gave the brief prayer that opens each day’s Senate session. As he stood at the chamber’s podium in a bright orange and burgundy robe, two women and a man began shouting “this is an abomination” and other complaints from the gallery.

Police officers quickly arrested them and charged them disrupting Congress, a misdemeanor. The male protester told an AP reporter, “we are Christians and patriots” before police handcuffed them and led them away.

For several days, the Mississippi-based American Family Association has urged its members to object to the prayer because Zed would be “seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god.”

Contrary to the bigoted AFA’s apparent expectations, Zed’s prayer was not Hindu-specific and only included reference to a single God (”We meditate on the transcendental glory of the Deity Supreme, who is inside the heart of the Earth, inside the life of the sky and inside the soul of the heaven. May He stimulate and illuminate our minds. Peace, peace, peace be unto all.”). Reid reacted to the protest later on, saying “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.”

The director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State noted that the protest “shows the intolerance of many religious right activists. They say they want more religion in the public square, but it’s clear they mean only their religion.” As a final stroke of irony, one of the protester’s names was apparently Christian.

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