1. Hindu Prayer in U.S. Senate Disrupted
2. Hindu Prayer in Senate Draws Religious Protesters
3. Christian Newswire's Version of Senate Protest
4. "Americans United for Separation of Church and State" Deplore Disruption
5. Christian Chaplain Denied Prayer Request
6. Historian Protests Hindu Prayer
7. Hindu-American Foundation Comments on Senate Prayer

1. Hindu Prayer in U.S. Senate Disrupted

www.washingtonpost.com

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 12, 2007: (HPI note -- We present today a series of articles on the opening of the United States Senate with a Hindu prayer by Rajan Zed of Nevada. Leaders of various religions have delivered the Senate prayer, but this was the first by a Hindu. Astoundingly, it was interrupted by shouting Christian protesters from the Senate gallery, resulting in widespread news coverage to an event that might have otherwise gone little noticed.)

A Hindu clergyman made history Thursday by offering the Senate's morning prayer, but only after police officers removed three shouting protesters from the visitors' gallery. For a video of the disruption and prayer (English version of the Gayatri Mantra), click here (note the CNN video begins with a commercial).

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."

Zed, the first Hindu to offer the Senate prayer, began: "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."

As the Senate prepared for another day of debate over the Iraq war, Zed closed with, "Peace, peace, peace be unto all."

Zed, who was born in India, was invited by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Speaking in the chamber shortly after the prayer, Reid defended the choice and linked it to the war debate.

"If people have any misunderstanding about Indians and Hindus," Reid said, "all they have to do is think of Gandhi," a man "who gave his life for peace."

"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," said Reid, a Mormon and sharp critic of President Bush's Iraq policies.

Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said 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."

Capitol police identified the protesters as Ante Nedlko Pavkovic, Katherine Lynn Pavkovic and Christan Renee Sugar. Their ages and hometowns were not available.

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2. Hindu Prayer in Senate Draws Religious Protesters

www.washingtonpost.com

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 12, 2007: (HPI note: This Reuters report contains some additional information, given below in excerpts.)

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.

They shouted "No Lord but Jesus Christ" and "There's only one true God," and used the term "abomination."

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3. Christian Newswire's Version of Senate Protest

www.christiannewswire.com

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 12, 2007: (HPI note: Following is the report by the Christian Newswire on the Hindu prayer.) Ante Pavkovic, Kathy Pavkovic, and Kristen Sugar were all arrested in the chambers of the United States Senate as that chamber was violated by a false Hindu god. The Senate was opened with a Hindu prayer placing the false god of Hinduism on a level playing field with the One True God, Jesus Christ. This would never have been allowed by our Founding Fathers.

"Not one Senator had the backbone to stand as our Founding Fathers stood. They stood on the Gospel of Jesus Christ! There were three in the audience with the courage to stand and proclaim, 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' They were immediately removed from the chambers, arrested, and are in jail now. God bless those who stand for Jesus as we know that He stands for them." Rev. Flip Benham, Director, Operation Save America/Operation Rescue

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4. "Americans United for Separation of Church and State" Deplore Disruption

www.commondreams.org

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 12, 2007: (HPI note: This is a press release.) Americans United for Separation of Church and State today deplored the disruption by Religious Right activists of a Hindu chaplain's prayer to open the U.S. Senate.

"This shows the intolerance of many Religious Right activists," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. "They say they want more religion in the public square, but it's clear they mean only their religion.

"America is a land of extraordinary religious diversity, and the Religious Right just can't seem to accept that fact," Lynn continued. "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."

Religious Right groups have been agitating against the Hindu leader's prayer since it was announced. The Rev. Donald Wildmon's American Family Association has asked his members to complain to their senators about the invitation. The group's news service reported that "Christian nation" activist David Barton said that Hinduism has few followers in the United States (HPI note: There are two million Hindus in America) and that prayer to a "non-monotheistic god" is "outside the American paradigm."

Said AU's Lynn, "The Religious Right promotes a deeply skewed version of American history. Our founders wanted separation of church and state and full religious liberty for all faith traditions. The episode today shows we still have a ways to go to achieve that goal."

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5. Christian Chaplain Denied Prayer Request

www.americandaily.com

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 12 (HPI note: This is from the Christian Newswire and was issued before the prayer and disruption took place. It indicates there was advance planning of some sort.) A Hindu chaplain will pray a Hindu prayer on the floor of the U.S. Senate for the first time in history. But yesterday, staffers from the offices of Senator Clinton (D-NY) and Harry Reid (D-NV) both denied a request for equal access to a chaplain who prays "in Jesus name."

Former Navy Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt personally visited the Washington offices of both Senators on July 10th, but was turned away.

"Yes, we sponsored today's Hindu chaplain from Nevada to pray Hindu prayers on the Senate floor," admitted Reid's staff, "but we won't sponsor you because you're from New York," they told Chaplain Klingenschmitt.

Senator Clinton's office also turned away her own constituent. "We won't sponsor you to pray 'in Jesus name' on the floor of the Senate," her staff told Klingenschmitt, "because Senate Chaplain Barry Black is a Seventh-Day Adventist who regularly prays on the Senate floor... so we don't need a Pentecostal chaplain who prays in Jesus name. You can ask Chaplain Black if he'll sponsor you, but Senator Clinton won't."

Senate Chaplain Barry Black, who is a former Chief of Navy Chaplains, refused to help. "How did you get in here?" his staffer asked Klingenschmitt. When he pointed to the sign above Black's door that says "welcome, please come in," the staffer replied, "Chaplain Black knows who you are, and he likely won't talk to you, and his personal calendar is booked with appointments until 2009."

"Our national motto isn't 'in gods we trust.'" said Janet Folger, President of Faith2Action. "I believe U.S. Government-sanctioned Hindu prayers are an abomination," Folger added, "Unless you sing 'gods bless America...', use your Freedom of Speech to let your Senators know you are outraged by calling: 202- 224-3121."

Klingenschmitt plans to watch the Hindu chaplain's prayer from the Senate gallery tomorrow, and will take interviews in the Capitol Rotunda immediately afterward.

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6. Historian Protests Hindu Prayer

www.onenewsnow.com

USA, July 10, 2007: (HPI note: This article from a Christian news organization appeared two days ago.) A prominent Christian historian and constitutional expert is expressing concern that the U.S. Senate will be opened up for the first time with a non-monotheistic prayer. 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."

Barton says given the fact that Hindus are a tiny constituency of the American public (HPI note: actually, two million Hindus, along with 6.5 million Jews, a like number of Muslims and at least 1.5 million Buddhists), 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.

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7. Hindu-American Foundation Comments on Senate Prayer

www.HAFsite.org

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 12, 2007: (HPI note: following is a press release from Ishani Chowdhury, Executive Director, Hindu American Foundation.)

"The Hindu American Foundation is certainly pleased that the faith of nearly 1 billion of the world's population, and 2 million American Hindus, has been represented today at the Senate. As a strong, vibrant and deeply faithful community, we share the need to be represented as part of the fabric of the heterogeneous American society. It is quite disheartening to see that those misinformed about the Hindu faith, and its countless contributions, have taken the route of disrupting a significant and solemn occasion. Just as the Hindu community was troubled by intolerance of the the exclusivist view of the American Family Association that were reflected by few protesters that were removed from the gallery today, our community is heartened and grateful by the brave voices of Senator Harry Reid and other Senators who made this historic moment possible in the Halls of Congress today. We reach out everyone to join us in continuing to build a society based on the principles of tolerance, pluralism and understanding."

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