DESI SPOTTING: Hindu Leads Prayer on Senate Floor

UPDATE: From Reuters - Hindu Prayer in Senate Draws Religious Protestors Post your comments below...

An informal report from a friend who works on Capitol Hill about a true South Asian-American first (this is anonymous because he isn't authorized to issue statements to the press):

The Guest Chaplain today in the Senate was Rajan Zed, a Hindu professor from Nevada. My understanding is that this was the first Hindu prayer delivered on the Senate floor. Interestingly, before he could get going with his invocation there were protesters in the gallery proclaiming the US as a country under Jesus Christ, etc. And they kept at trying to interrupt him.

At any rate, Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) had to have them removed and the priest was able to continue. Small illustration of how Hindu's are still misunderstood and must continue to reach out and educate. Check out this link for a little background on his trip today to Washington and background on who he is.

FYI - After the prayer was delivered, Senator Harry Reid praised Zed on the floor.

See a press release from Zed himself below in advance of the event, along with an "Action Alert" e-mail SAJA received from the American Family Asscociation, criticizing the fact that "a non-monotheistic god" was invoked. Here's an excerpt:

WallBuilders president David Barton is questioning why the U.S. government is seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god. Barton points out that since Hindus worship multiple gods, the prayer will be completely outside the American paradigm, flying in the face of the American motto "One Nation Under God.

Rest of it is below. Got a comment? Post it below, too, please.

POST YOUR COMMENTS BELOW.

> Press release <

From: Rajan Zed, rajanzed[at]hotmail.com

Hindu prayer to open United States Senate

Reno (Nevada, USA), June 25, 2007: History will be created when Rajan Zed, a Hindu chaplain, will read Hindu prayer at the opening of United States (US) Senate in Washington DC on July 12 next.

According to reports, this will be the first time any Hindu prayer will be delivered in the US Senate since its formation in 1789.

Zed is still to finalize the exact prayer he will deliver, but he is thinking something from Rig Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use, dated from around 1,500 BCE; besides lines from Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures. He plans to start and end the prayer with “OM”, the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work. Full text of the prayer will be included in the Congressional Record.

Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has no datable beginning but some scholars put it around 3,000 BCE. It has no founder, no one authoritative figure, no one deity worshipped by all, and no single prophet or holy book. One of its scriptures, Mahabharata, which dates around third century BCE, is the longest poem ever written, comprising over 100,000 couplets.

“July 12, 2007, will be an illustrious day for all Americans and memorable day for us when opening prayers from ancient Hindu scriptures will be read in the great hall of democracy,” Zed states.

Rajan Zed, besides being Director of Public Affairs and Interfaith Relations of Hindu Temple of Northern Nevada, is also Public Relations Officer of India Association of Northern Nevada, affiliated with World Congress of Faiths-London, listed in “Who’s Who in America” 2006, volunteers as a chaplain in various hospitals of northwestern Nevada and nearby California, and is active in interfaith dialogue in the region. He lives in Reno with wife Shipa Zed, a community volunteer; son Navgeet Zed, a youth activist; and daughter Palkin Zed, an accomplished author of two published books.

According to US Senate website, “…Throughout the years, the United States Senate has honored the historic separation of Church and State, but not the separation of God and State…During the past two hundred and seven years, all sessions of the Senate have been opened with prayer, strongly affirming the Senate’s faith in God as Sovereign Lord of our Nation...” Usually the Senate Chaplain delivers the opening prayer, but sometimes guest chaplains are invited from all over the country to read the prayer. According to a Senate Chaplain Office communiqué, the purpose of the opening prayer is to seek God on behalf of, and for the Senators and the prayer should affirm our rich heritage as a Nation “under God”.

US Senate shares with the US House of Representatives responsibility for all lawmaking but is given important powers under the “advice and consent” provisions of the Constitution besides adjudicating impeachment proceedings.

> An Action Alert from the American Family Association <

July 10, 2007

Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire email list of family and friends.
Hindu to open Senate with prayer

Send an email to your senator now, expressing your disappointment in the Senate decision to invite a Hindu to open the session with prayer.

Dear madcap,

Please read this news report from OneNewsNow.com.

On Thursday, a Hindu chaplain from Reno, Nevada, by the name of Rajan Zed is scheduled to deliver the opening prayer in the U.S. Senate. Zed tells the Las Vegas Sun that in his prayer he will likely include references to ancient Hindu scriptures, including Rig Veda, Upanishards, and Bhagavard-Gita. Historians believe it will be the first Hindu prayer ever read at the Senate since it was formed in 1789.

WallBuilders president David Barton is questioning why the U.S. government is seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god. Barton points out that since Hindus worship multiple gods, the prayer will be completely outside the American paradigm, flying in the face of the American motto "One Nation Under God."
"In Hindu, you have not one God, but many, many, many, many, many gods," the Christian historian explains. "And certainly that was never in the minds of those who did the Constitution, did the Declaration [of Independence] when they talked about Creator -- that's not one that fits here because we don't know which creator we're talking about within the Hindu religion." TAKE ACTION – Click here to send your E-mail today!

Barton says given the fact that Hindus are a tiny constituency of the American public, he questions the motivation of Senate leaders. "This is not a religion that has produced great things in the world," he observes. "You look at India, you look at Nepal -- there's persecution going in both of those countries that is gendered by the religious belief that is present there, and Hindu dominates in both of those countries."

And while Barton acknowledges there is not constitutional problem with a Hindu prayer in the Senate, he wonders about the political side of it. "One definitely wonders about the pragmatic side of it," he says. "What is the message, and why is the message needed? And will it actually communicate anything other than engender with folks like me a lot of questions?"

Barton says he knows of at least seven cases where Christians have lost their bid to express their own faith in a public prayer.

Zed is reportedly the first Hindu to deliver opening prayers in an American state legislature, having done so in both the Nevada State Assembly and Nevada State Senate earlier this year. He has stated that Thursday's prayer will be "universal in approach," despite being drawn from Hindu religious texts.
American       Family Association

P.S. Please forward this e-mail message to your family and friends! < American Family | P O Drawer 2440 | Tupelo, MS 38803 1-662-844-5036
Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved

Comments

[Vineet Chander]

Sad that a few bigots got to soil an otherwise historically significant event. My thoughts on the disruption are at http://iskconcommunications.blogspot.com/2007/07/hindu-in-senate-bigots-in-crowd.html.

Take Care,
Vineet

[bhumika]

three extremists tried to disrupt the invocation..i wonder why media is not talking about that...the historic moment was turned into a show of Christian right extremism

[Anavadyangi devi dasi]

I was born in the USA in 1945 and have been practicing bhaktiyoga for over 40 years. I also accept Jesus as the son of God. God is unlimited and has many names; Jehovah, Yaweh, Buddha, Allah, Krishna, Rama are only a few. Just as the sun is know by many names; Helos, Sol, etc. yet we have no problem with understanding there is only one sun. All the fighting in this world is due to lack of understanding that we are all part and parcel of the Supreme Being who is the Creator of all things and Father of all living entities.

I live in rural Nevada, an hour drive from Reno and personally know Rajan Zed. He is sincerely trying to help others understand a higher Truth that is ancient and all inclusive. The word "Religion" orginates from the Latin "re" meaning "again" and "ligio" or "to link" (as in ligament); in other words "religion" means to relink or reconnect to God - this is our birthright and original consciousness. In sanskrit, this is the same idea of "dharma" and is the intrinsic nature of the “atma” – soul – which is eternal – our true self.

I pray that we may all WAKE up and come to our senses and embrace all beings as our brothers and sisters. I pray that we will come to understand that we all spirit souls and not these bodies. We are all suffering from “skin” disease – thinking I am black/white, rich/poor, Christian/Hindu/Buddhist/Muslim, man/woman, child/adult, American/Russian/Chinese/Arab, etc. is so limited, short-sided and the source of all the problems in this world. Oh Lord, please help us heal from this damnable disease.

[Vasu Murti]

Having grown up in this country as a member of a religious minority, I believe in a secular society that is neutral towards all forms of religious expression, and I don't believe the founding fathers intended America to be a "Christian nation."

A few years ago, on one of his broadcasts, TV preacher Pat Robertson was quoted as saying, "We want a secular constitution, we want to make sure religious minorities are protected..." But he wasn't talking about the United States--he was talking about Afghanistan...where Christians are a minority!

Consider the problem of school prayer:

In the October 2006 issue of Church & State, the periodical put out by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Gary B. Christenot, an evangelical Christian writes about his experience on the Hawaiian island of Wahiawa, where Christians are a minority "in this little village that was populated predominantly by people of Japanese and Chinese ancestry. Rather than a church on every corner, as is common in the continental 48 states, Wahiawa had a Shinto or Buddhist shrine on every corner."

Christenot notes that prayers before a high school football game were led "not by a Protestant minister or a Catholic priest, but a Buddhist priest who proceeded to offer up prayers and intonations to god-head figures that our tradition held to be pagan."

He concludes: "I would say in love to my Christian brothers and sisters: Before you yearn for the imposition of prayer and similar rituals in your public schools, you might consider attending a football game at Wahiawa High School. Because unless you're ready to endure the unwilling exposure of yourself and your children to those beliefs and practices that your own faith forswears, you have no right to insist that others sit in silence and complicity while you do the same to them.

"I, for one, sleep better at night knowing that because Judeo-Christian prayers are not being offered at my children's schools, I don't have to worry about them being confronted with Buddhist, Shinto, Wiccan, Satanic or any other prayer ritual I might find offensive."

A Roman Catholic priest, Reverend David K. O’Rourke, said, “Every religious group in the United States is a minority group. Some may be unhappy with this status and wish they had official standing. I am not unhappy with it. The Catholic Church, the largest of these minorities, has prospered greatly in this country where we separate church and state.”

We have a vibrant, multifaith religious society that, with the exception of a few fundamentalist Muslim states, is admired all over the globe. We have a degree of interfaith harmony unmatched in the world. Our government is legally secular, but our culture accommodates and welcomes a variety of religious voices. New faiths take root here without fear.

Americans remain greatly interested in religion and things spiritual—unlike their counterparts in Western Europe, where religion is often state subsidized but of little interest to most people. Children are no longer forced to pray in school or read from religious texts against their will, yet they are free to engage in truly voluntary religious worship whenever they feel the need. The important task of imparting religious and philosophical training to youngsters is left where it always belonged—with each child’s parents or guardians. Some European nations have passed so-called anticult laws aimed at curbing the rights of unpopular new religions. Such laws would not be acceptable in the United States or permitted under the First Amendment.

"In 1787 when the framers excluded all mention of God from the Constitution, they were widely denounced as immoral and the document was denounced as godless, which is precisely what it is," says Isaac Kramnick, professor of government at Cornell University.

Opponents of the Constitution challenged ratifying conventions in nearly every state, calling attention to Article VI, Section 3: “No religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”

An anti-federalist in North Carolina wrote: “The exclusion of religious tests is by many thought dangerous and impolitic. Pagans, Deists and Mohammedans might obtain office among us.” Amos Singletary of Massachussetts, one of the most outspoken critics of the Constitution, said that he “hoped to see Christians (in power), yet by the Constitution, a papist or an infidel was as eligible as they.”

Luther Martin, a Maryland delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 wrote that “there were some members so unfashionable as to think that a belief in the existence of a Deity, and of a state of future rewards and punishments would be some security for the good conduct of our rulers, and that in a Christian country, it would be at least decent to hold out some distinction between the professors of Christianity and downright infidelity or paganism.” Martin’s report shows that a “Christian nation” faction had its say during the convention, and that its views were soundly rejected.

The United States Constitution is a completely secular political document. It begins “We the people,” and contains no mention of “God,” “Jesus,” or “Christianity.” Its only references to religion are exclusionary, such as the “no religious test” clause (Article VI), and “Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” (First Amendment)

The presidential oath of office, the only oath detailed in the Constitution, does not contain the phrase “so help me God” or any requirement to swear on a Bible (Article II, Section 1). The words “under God” did not appear in the Pledge of Allegiance until 1954, when Congress, under McCarthyism, inserted them. Similarly, “In God we Trust” was absent from paper currency before 1956, though it did appear on some coins since 1864.

The original U.S. motto, written by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson, is “E Pluribus Unum” (“Of Many, One”) celebrating plurality and diversity. In 1797, America made a treaty with Tripoli, declaring that “the government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.” This reassurance to Islam was written under Washington’s presidency and approved by the Senate under John Adams.

We are not governed by the Declaration of Independence. Its purpose was to “dissolve the political bonds,” not to set up a religious nation. Its authority was based upon the idea that “governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” which is contrary to the biblical concept of rule by divine authority. The Declaration deals with laws, taxation, representation, war, immigration, etc., and doesn’t discuss religion at all. The references to “Nature’s God,” “Creator,” and “Divine Providence” in the Declaration do not endorse Christianity. Its author, Thomas Jefferson, was a Deist, opposed to Christianity and the supernatural.

“Of all the systems of morality, ancient or modern, which have come under my observation, none appear to me so pure as that of Jesus,” wrote Thomas Jefferson. However, Jefferson admitted, “In the New Testament there is internal evidence that parts of it have proceeded from an extraordinary man and that other parts are the fabric of very inferior minds...” According to Isaac Kramnick, "It was Thomas Jefferson who established the separation of church and state. Jefferson was deeply suspicious of religion and of clergy wielding political power."

Jefferson helped create the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1786, incurring the wrath of Christians by his fervent defense of toleration of atheists: “The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts as are only injurious to others. But it does no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”

Jefferson advocated a “wall of separation” between church and state not to protect the church from government intrusion, but to preserve the freedom of the people: “I consider the doctrines of Jesus as delivered by himself to contain the outlines of the sublimest morality that has ever been taught;” he observed, “but I hold in the most profound detestation and execration the corruptions of it which have been invested by priestcraft and established by kingcraft, constituting a conspiracy of church and state against the civil and religious liberties of mankind.”

Jefferson and the founding fathers were products of the Age of Enlightenment. Their world view was based upon Deism, secularism, and rationalism. “The priests of the different religious sects dread the advance of science as witches do the approach of daylight,” wrote Jefferson. “The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his Father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter...we may hope that the dawn of reason and freedom of thought in these United States will do away all this...”

As late as 1820, Jefferson was convinced everyone in the United States would die a Unitarian. Jefferson, Madison and Paine’s writings indicate that America was never intended to be a Christian theocracy. “I have sworn upon the altar of God,” wrote Jefferson, “eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”

In his 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists, Jefferson wrote: “Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”

As president, Jefferson put his “wall of separation” theory into practice. He refused to issue proclamations calling for days of prayer and fasting, insisting that they would violate the First Amendment. As early as 1779, Jefferson proposed a bill before the Virginia legislature that would have established a series of elementary schools to teach the basics—reading, writing, and arithmetic. Jefferson even suggested that “no religious reading, instruction, or exercise shall be prescribed or practiced, inconsistent with the tenets of any religious sect or denomination.” Jefferson did not regard public schools as the proper agent to form children’s religious views.

As president, James Madison also put his separationist philosophy into action. He vetoed two bills he believed would violate church-state separation. The first was an act incorporating the Episcopal Church in the District of Columbia that gave the church the authority to care for the poor. The second was a proposed land grant to a Baptist church in Mississippi. Had Madison, the father of the Constitution, believed that all the First Amendment was intended to do was bar setting up a state church, he would have approved these bills. Instead, he vetoed both, and in his veto messages to Congress explicitly stated that he was rejecting the bills because they violated the First Amendment.

Later in his life, James Madison came out against state-paid chaplains, writing, “The establishment of the chaplainship to Congress is a palpable violation of equal rights, as well as of Constitutional principles.” He also concluded that his calling for days of prayer and fasting during his presidency had been unconstitutional.

In an 1819 letter to Robert Walsh, Madison wrote, “the number, the industry and the morality of the priesthood, and the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the church from the state.” In an undated essay called the “Detached Memoranda,” written in the early 1800s, Madison wrote, “Strongly guarded...is the separation between Religion and Government in the Constitution of the United States.”

In 1833 Madison responded to a letter sent to him by Jasper Adams. Adams had written a pamphlet titled “The Relations of Christianity to Civil Government in the United States,” which tried to prove that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. Madison wrote back, “In the papal system, government and religion are in a manner consolidated, and that is found to be the worst of government.”

Madison, like Jefferson, was confident that separation of church and state would protect both the institutions of government and religion. Late in his life, Madison wrote to a Lutheran minister about this, declaring, “A due distinction...between what is due to Caesar and what is due to God, best promotes the discharge of both obligations...A mutual independence is found most friendly to practical religion, to social harmony, and to political prosperity.”

By the early part of the 19th century, a general understanding existed that the government should not promote religion, or favor one religion over another. In 1825, Congress passed legislation requiring post offices to handle mail on Sundays. Many people protested, arguing that this violated the Christian Sabbath. Congress debated the matter for a few years before deciding in 1829 to retain Sunday mail handling. Senator Richard Johnson of Kentucky wrote that the government had no business favoring Sunday as a state-mandated day of rest:

“It is not the legitimate province of the Legislature to determine what religion is true, or what is false,” Johnson observed. “Our Government is a civil and not a religious institution. Our Constitution recognizes in every person the right to choose his own religion, and to enjoy it freely, without molestation. Whatever may be the religious sentiments of citizens, and however variant, they are alike entitled to protection from the Government, so long as they do not invade the rights of others.”

America was founded on the premise of religious freedom. This remains one of its greatest strengths.

[AM I A HINDU?]

Rodney King, who became famous after his violent arrest by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department said: ""Can't We All Get Along??""

I wish to ask the same question? ""Can't We All Get Along??""

Why there is so much fear about a Hindu saint praying in Senate? Unless the fear is that more people will be interested in culture/religion like Hinduism.

Hindu scripture Rig Veda states, "" Truth or God is One but men describe it in different ways." "

One God, but many names.

In India with 80% Hindu Population , a "Catholic woman "[Sonia Gandhi] is totally in charge of the government, a "Sikh" [Dr. Manmohan Singh ] is the Prime Minister and a Moslem [Abdul KALAM] is the president and no Hindu protests over this.

Why can't we celebrate and admire the diversity in the world?

"Nobody can monopolize God or truth. God and Truth are universal. "

Whether we like it or not, people every where will be educated about every aspect of every culture and religion in due course of time. Nobody can stop this passion among people to know the truth.

[AM I A HINDU?]

Rodney King, who became famous after his violent arrest by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department said: ""Can't We All Get Along??""

I wish to ask the same question? ""Can't We All Get Along??""

Why there is so much fear about a Hindu saint praying in Senate? Unless the fear is that more people will be interested in culture/religion like Hinduism.

Hindu scripture Rig Veda states, "" Truth or God is One but men describe it in different ways." "

One God, but many names.

In India with 80% Hindu Population , a "Catholic woman "[Sonia Gandhi] is totally in charge of the government, a "Sikh" [Dr. Manmohan Singh ] is the Prime Minister and a Moslem [Abdul KALAM] is the president and no Hindu protests over this.

Why can't we celebrate and admire the diversity in the world?

"Nobody can monopolize God or truth. God and Truth are universal. "

Whether we like it or not, people every where will be educated about every aspect of every culture and religion in due course of time. Nobody can stop this passion among people to know the truth.

[ashish dimri]

Dear SAJA,
It really hurts!
If this is happening in socalled superpower, paragon of democracy then one doubts if Hindus are safe and sound in other parts of the world!
May I request, SAJA and its learned members to protest against such hypocrisy.
If U.S.A. allows dogmatic legislators and obtuse protestors, the how can it sermonise on Iraq, Afgahanistan and any other area of conflict!
yours
ashish dimri
ashishdimri.sulekha.com

[Tamil]

I realize that somehow Hinduism has managed to throw the shackles of the impressions that it is a primitive pagan religion from India with some general platitudes about peace and tolerance.

But unfortunately tolerance for Christians and Muslims is at a minimum in India with pogroms in Gujarat and Orissa.
I have some questions for your readers.
1. Which religion is responsible for enslaving 90% of Indians into being servants of other 10% of Indians under the guise of religion for the past 4000 years?
2. Which religion treats it's widows and orphans so misreably that there are hundrerds of miserable looking widows and orphans begging outside almost every temple.
3.Which religion had made Indian society so unsustainable for the past millenia by excluding millions of Indians from any useful occupation except cleaning toilet waste,that any passing army from Central Asia,Arabia,Iran,Afghanistan and even people who just came to buy a few peppers were able to conquer the whole of India with just a few thousand soldiers.
4.Which religion is so narrow minded that it teaches that you have to be born a brahmin before you can remove yourself from the cycle of reincarnation into nirvana or salvation?

[Steve]

The concern about, and protest of the Hindu chaplain, had little to do with Hinduism and the people who practice this religion, and had mostly to do with the Culture War America finds itself in.

As David Barton states it’s the motivation of Senate leaders that is the concern here. There are people who want to attack the traditions of America and one of the traditions is that America is a “Christian Nation”. By saying that we are a Christian Nation it doesn’t mean that we force everyone in our country to become Christians or that we prohibit other religions from flourishing in our country. But it does mean that we will recognize in our public institutions that it was Christianity that forms the roots of our country. We will recognize the traditions of Christianity even though we don’t force anyone to be a Christian.

The term “Separation of Church and State” is nowhere in our Constitution and has been purposely misinterpreted by those who want to take religion out of the public life of this nation.

Check out these articles:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42268

http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/tabor/050720

What the Senators did was an attack on our heritage. Even those who aren’t Christians should be offended by that. It isn’t that we don’t respect Hinduism but we expect our government leaders to respect us and this is happening with less and less frequency.

I don’t blame the Hindu chaplain for this. Obviously he didn’t realize that he was being used as a pawn in the effort of eradicating Christianity and in the process of eradicating Christianity the foundations of our country that made us great.

Americans have no ill will towards Hinduism or the Hindus who practice it. But when those who want to destroy all that is good and decent in our country attack in such a way, there will be a response. That said, I know Hindus as being good people, and despite being “caught in the crossfire” in this case I know Hindus in America want a decent culture for their children, and ultimately if they realize what the Left is doing in America would join in the fight against them. I don’t agree with the methods these protestors used but I am certainly and in sympathy to their concerns and so would most Hindus be if they understood the American Culture War and what is at stake here.