U.S. Senate to open with Hindu prayers
New York: History will be created when a Hindu prayer will be recited at the opening of the US Senate in Washington DC on July 12.
Rajan Zed, a Hindu chaplain, said that he had been officially asked to say the prayer. He said he believes this may be the first time any Hindu prayer is delivered in the Senate since its formation in 1789.
Zed is likely to choose the prayer from the Rig Veda, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita. He said he plans to start and end the prayer with 'Om', the mystical Hindu syllable. The full text of the prayer will be included in the Congressional Record.
There are an estimated two million Indian Americans in the US.
Followers of Hindu groups like ISKCON may add up to another one million.
Great news! Although opening the Senate with prayer is something of a perfunctory formality, the fact that a Hindus has been invited is a sign of increased diversity and the inclusion of religious minorities. And who would have a problem with that?
Oops, apparently there are some folks who do. The red-blooded love-it-or-leave-it Archie Bunker Americans at this blog think that the very idea of having Hindu prayers is "a slap in the face to the one true God, the Judeo Christian God."
(an aside: I've always thought the idea of a "Judeo-Christian God" was weird. It makes it seem like God is some old bearded man at a cocktail party introducing Himself by way of his dual-identity. "Hi, I'm the Judeo-Christian God. Yeah, My dad's side is Jewish, but My mom is a Catholic." A bit odd, but anyway...)
Fans of the charmingly fascist PC-Free Zone -- which also features a graphic that says "Allah Sucks" -- added equally bone-headed insights like:
America is a Christian country! Christian men and women, Christian morals and Christian values made America great. Quit trying to degrade our heritage.and
Who invited this Turkey? In High Schools they are not allowed to pray before a football game but the Senate is allowed to have some second rate money changer saying a prayer.Is it really 2007? All I can say is... we've got our work cut out for us.
1 comment:
I really appreciate the majority of USA(55% or more) because of which America respects freedom of religion. I moved here 10 years back and have always found the Christianity is the only official religion others are only step religions. They can live but no official recognitions no holidays for them. Please note that I am not against Christianity but because I hail from India, a truly democratic country, where all religions are treated equally and we have public holidays for all. Even on discussions on TV I have never seen any Hindu representative called. In that background it is a great great news and I THANK to liberal great Americans for their openness and respect for diversity.
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