Conservative bigots disrupt first ever Hindu prayer in Senate

[jefferson_dem]

Run time: 01:08 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbMtpUPFPoo   Posted on YouTube: July 12, 2007 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: July 13, 2007 By DU Member: jefferson_dem Views on DU: 2865

 
***JUST REALIZED THIS IS A DUPE. SORRY ABOUT THAT***

Please go here http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=40454&mesg_id=40454


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Conservative bigots in the Senate gallery, angry that a non-Christian was allowed to offer the customary opening blessing and condolences to the late former First Lady Mrs Johnson's family on the Senate floor caused a disruption Thursday, 7/12/07.

The conservative Christian group "American Family Association," had previously encouraged its members to oppose allowing a Hindu priest to bless the Senate. It was the first time in history a Hindu had been invited to perform the honorary duty.

More information on this incident can be found here:

http://www.thedailybackground.com/2007/07/12/non-christian-allowed-to-bless-senate-floor-bigoted-conservatives-protest/

[Olney Blue]

1. OMG, this is unbearable to watch. Bigots, indeed.

Lady Bird would have hated this display.

[niceypoo]

11. Everything on the right is about bigotry

It is the lowest common denominator that holds the GOP together. When you look at their staple, "issues," immigration, gay marrige, liberals....everything...its always about hating one group or another. Its the glue that holds the GOP together.

[NC_Nurse]

2. I'm sure Jesus is proud.

NOT.

How completely disgusting.

[frogcycle]

3. i have tried my damndest

to remain tolerant of people who believe in fairies, angels, leprechauns, and in dead people coming back to life.

in the history of humankind there have been myriad religions invented; it seems to be a natural tendency of the species.

but dammit, the christo-fascists have just plain made that impossible. They will not just behave like civilized human beings and keep their mythology to themselves and their fellow cult members. They are a blot on our society. I suppose they think this earns them brownie points to get into the happy place, like that filth phelps and his gang.

their behavior would not be tolerated if they were scientologists, or Branch Davidians, or any other idiot fringe cult. But because they say "jeebus," society is afraid to touch them. They need to be stoned to death. Yeah, that's the ticket!

[northzax]

4. Stay classy, American Family Association

stay classy.

[whistle]

5. The "American Family Association" is not only intolerant of other religions

...but its founder and leader Don Wildmon appears to promote a homophobic agenda as well along with other RW extremist ideas.

<snip>
American Family Association


<snip to Quotes >
“Now the Bush Administration is opening its arms to homosexual activists who have been working diligently to overthrow the traditional views of Western Civilization regarding human sexuality, marriage and family… AFA would never support the policies of a political party which embraced the homosexual movement. Period.” – Don Wildmon, AFA Press Release, April 16, 2001

“We believe the national motto incorporates the foundational belief of our culture, and its words ‘In God we trust’ are a message our children need to see in school.” – Don Wildmon, AFA Journal cover story, July 2001

“But the National PTA continued right along, increasingly becoming a tool to promote a left-wing philosophy instead of helping the children with their educational needs. The latest project for the National PTA is the promotion of the homosexual agenda…Stop the PTA from using your children to promote their left-wing political agenda.” – Don Wildmon, AFA Journal, February 2001

“Over the years, AFA has consistently addressed the homosexual movement's obsession with infiltrating the public school system. Its eye-opening video ‘It's Not Gay’, which presents a heartbreaking look at the physical and emotional consequences of the homosexual lifestyle, has been the most popular video ever produced by AFA.” (“Homosexuals push for control of schools,” May 2001)

“Nothing disappointed the more than Disney's enthusiastic embrace of movement that rejects everything that is sacred to Christians about human sexuality, marriage and family.” (“Why the Disney Boycott Shouldn't Go Away,” April 2001)

On Christians in the public square: “Christians must be equally willing to take the heat, and to shrug off the rabid attacks of the media babblers who see Christians as the enemy.” – News Editor Ed Vitagliano, AFA Journal, July 2005

“The church and this nation cry out for a revival of masculine Christianity, which is to say that we church leaders need to stop being such, for lack of a better word, sissies when it comes to social and political issues. We need to spend as much time confronting perpetrators as we do comforting victims. We need to do less fretting, and more fighting for righteousness. For every motherly, feminine ministry of the church such as a Crisis Pregnancy Center or ex-gay support group, we need a battle-hardened, take-it-to-the-enemy masculine ministry like Operation Rescue (questions of civil disobedience aside). For every God-hating radical in government, academia and media we need a bold, no-nonsense, truth-telling Christian counterpart: trained, equipped and endorsed by the local church.” – Scott Lively, author of The Pink Swastika and former Director of AFA California (source)

“Under homosexual activists' political agenda, our children would face a future in which traditional marriage and families have been legally devalued, while state government – despite the severe threat it poses to personal and public health – not only legally endorses but uses our tax dollars to subsidize deadly homosexual behavior.” – Gary Glenn, Director of AFA Michigan (Press Release, February 17, 2001)

<MORE>

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=3796

[Fovea]

6. As a Wiccan Priest

I cannot begin to describe the anger I feel watching this video.

The only solution in my opinion is to take profit out of religion.

Please tax all religious institutions for all income, properties, etc that do not directly feed the hungry or care for the sick.

It is the only way we can get mammon (to use a XRtian term) out of faith.

I consider the AFA and its members to be enemies of liberty.

[tularetom]

7. Hindus were around long before the American "Family" Association

was spawned and they will continue to be around long after the AFA has ceased to be anything but a skid mark on the jockey shorts of world religion.

[noahmijo]

16. Hinduism was around long before Christianity

[Manifestor_of_Light]

31. Zoroastrianism is about 10K years old.

So it's slightly older than Hinduism but they are both from the dim mists of time.

Zoroastrianism is the state religion of Persia, at least when the Shah was the head of state.

[melnjones]

8. As a woman studying to be a christian minister,

I'm so horrified that it's all i can do to not cry watching that. I've given my classmates a piece of my mind before when they have brought up the AFA in class, but this just takes the cake. Un-fricken-believable.

[obietiger]

9. How sad

that people have no respect for other people's beliefs - in fact, they have no manners it appears. I hope that all the Senate disavows those conservative bigots.

[Wetzelbill]

10. that's just an embarassment to our country

who we are and what we are supposed to stand for. I'm a Christian myself, and in no way would a true Christian treat someone that way.

You know, this was supposed to be a great moment for our country, where we could show our respect of all religions and beliefs and our love of mankind, and these people tarnished that. I am embarassed that we have people like that in our country.

[shenmue]

12. Wow, what a bunch of jerks

"Love one another as I have loved you," anyone?

:grr:

People make me so danged mad. I swear.

[Maraya1969]

13. OH lookie. Here's their "action allert"

http://www.afa.net/Petitions/issuedetail.asp?id=257


"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.

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.""


More at link if you can stomach it.

[ChipperbackDemocrat]

15. WallBuilders

"WallBuilders president David Barton..."

Nothing in my Christian faith talks about building walls. My faith in my Lord is based on breaking walls down!

The Dominionist Snake-Handler Pharisees: Embarassing America in the name of Satan.

[NastyDiaper]

19. I used their site, but I replaced...

(Please enter your own subject line.)

Dear Senator,
I am strongly disappointed in the U.S. Senate’s decision to invite a Hindu to open the session with prayer. Will you next invite someone from the Church of Scientology to open the Senate with prayer?

with

Good for the Senate!

Dear Senator,
I am extremely happy that the U.S. Senate’s decided to invite a Hindu to open the session with prayer.
Freedom, more than anything else, is based on tolerance and the separation of church and state.

I'm sure that AFA won't mind :+

[deepthought42]

24. Muahaha!

:rofl:

Good one. :evilgrin:

[noahmijo]

14. That priest showed more boldness through class than any Xtian organization I've ever seen

that attaches the word "Family" to their marquee.

[and-justice-for-all]

17. Fuck the AFA! Facist pigs. nt

[Chovexani]

18. As a Pagan priestess who occasionally works with Hindu deities

I was excited to see a Hindu priest invited to bless the Senate. This video is so sad and disappointing on so many levels, but I can't say it's surprising. Fucking fundies are worse than children. Their response to anything outside their own narrow white-bread paradigm is to plug their ears and scream "LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU".

Freedom of religion means all religions, like the bumper sticker says.

[coco77]

20. These people are pitiful..

they spout all of this shit about Americans and the mainstream, these terms to them mean white and christian.

[fryguy]

21. please tell me those yelling weren't members, but were in the public gallery....

:mad:

[YOY]

22. I felt really bad for the guest chaplain

Poor guy! He just wanted to do a peaceful prayer!

Damn fundies...

[noahmijo]

23. This is what we'd be hearing if Taleban members spoke English

It is unfortunate. Time and time again I keep trying to find examples that lead me to believe that Christian America is not as evil or dangerous as Islamic Radicals far away who preach death and destruction to our way of life.

This is a prime of example of why I hope either Christian America for once decides to step up and do some house cleaning on the members who make it easy for those of us outside of your circles to paint you as Taleban members with white skin. Not saying all Christians are bad, but if all you do is rant against people like me for "persecuting" you and completely turn a blind eye if/when your church decides to do another shake down on its members in order to fund the kitty to get the message out as to why X group needs to be silenced then you are just as bad.

And yes, if were born a Saudi I would've been beheaded with my tongue cut out by now because I feel exactly the same towards the religion of Islam and the duties of its members to stifle those who use the religion to commit torture, murder, rape, and genocide.

[maggiegault]

25. "They will know we are Christians by our love, by our love..."

Or at least that is how it used to be.

If Jesus Christ saw what was being done in his name, he'd never stop throwing up. --Max Von Sydow, Hannah and Her Sisters

[Ian David]

26. Of course, they didn't object when Sun Myung Moon was crowned The Messiah by our Senators

Here's Moon's propoganda piece he made using it:

http://www.youtube.com/player2.swf?hl=en&video_id=f08clPMODw8&l=1253&t=OEgsToPDskJjoxu0CxXWhm_yqyQnju2j&soff=1&sk=faPwq17iFyZIU-qJ0-rRTgC



See:

Hail to the Moon king

The deeply weird coronation of Rev. Sun Myung Moon in a Senate office building -- crown, robes, the works -- is no longer one of Washington's best-kept secrets.
http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/06/21/moon/index.html

[Soulshine]

27. Call Fundamentalists Fundamentalists!

I don't know much about this ceremony, but I did look up this guy. Trust me, though they're probably working toward the same goal, (consolidating church and state) this is not the guy those type of people (the ones yelling at the Hindu priest) would rally behind either.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Myung_Moon

They attack these guys like they attack Mormons.

These guys have no manners or sense of public decorum. You can disagree with a Hindu praying in Senate that's your right as an American. Apparently not knowing how to conduct yourself with dignity is a right as and American too. I think you'd find yourself Hard Pressed to find a Christian on this site to claim them, but I can't say they're not Christian. I can say many moderate Christians don't hold these views and I hope one day we can take our religion back.

I do think it's alittle unfair to say "Christian America" is to blame. That's spin talk. There are fundamentalist is every religion that make it look bad. It's not fair to use such a broad strokes in this regard, just as it's not fair that it's not fair to assume every Islamic Middleastern is a Fundamentalist. I appreciate that that poster recognized that not all Christians are that way. But I'd venture that not the majority of us are that way either.

[noahmijo]

28. You must be responding to me. Try reading what I said though

This is the exact kneejerk reaction that was the very target of the paragraph that caught your attention.

What I said:

This is a prime of example of why I hope either Christian America for once decides to step up and do some house cleaning on the members who make it easy for those of us outside of your circles to paint you as Taleban members with white skin. Not saying all Christians are bad, but if all you do is rant against people like me for "persecuting" you and completely turn a blind eye if/when your church decides to do another shake down on its members in order to fund the kitty to get the message out as to why X group needs to be silenced then you are just as bad

I never said Christian American represents the AMA these people who attempted to silence the Hindu priest.

I said quite clearly that it is the duty of Christian American to do their part in showing that these types do not represent Christianity as a whole. Are there millions of do gooder Christians out there that help the homeless, donate to and build organizations which help the disenfranchized the crippled, ect? of course.

But we don't hear about them. Instead the media shows us clips like this. And Christians remain silent. We see individuals such as George Bush and other conservative policitians who clearly state that their way of following Christianity is right and the rest of us will burn. And Christians remain silent.

My point is that if there is a Christian majority, I mean if the majority of the Christian population of America is indeed NOT like Ralph Reed and does not subscribe to the ideals of right wing Christian Nationalism, then it is high time for them to start marching, start speaking out, start shaming leaders in their circles that act as catalysts to perputuate the hate speech we hear coming out of groups like AMA. If this doesn't happen no one's going to be crying over spilled Christians anytime soon, just as those who make up the Islamic religion have upon themselves a responsibility to work against and stifle wherever and wherever they can the actions of murder, torture, and genocide. Time and time again we hear of how the individuals which damage the name of their respective religions are "just the minority" well if that is the case how come this damaging minority hasn't been displaced to the bargin bin and continues to be a destructive entity to the pillars of human rights and freedom?

Religion is a choice. Although it is a civil right to worship as you wish, it is still a choice unlike the gender or color of which you are born. I left the Christian religion for the very reason I just expressed-not enough individuals in my camp willing to step up and challenge the corruption of the organization and the damaging effects of replacing truth with mythology at the expense of the commoners and at the profit of the powers which control the institution. The fact is religion was created as means of control-although aspects of it are celestial and healing, the fact remains that these are psychological effects which when used properly (such as say how you yourself use them) can be very positive and I be all means encourage that. In fact this is what religion should've been since the beginning: a means of spiritual healing and personal improvement-not a means to control through fear which is what it is today and what it will continue to be until it is either abolished or restructured through the bold acts of followers who "make up the majority"

It's your call people make it happen.

[Soulshine]

29. I don't really disagree with you.

What I was saying is I think there is a movement to take back religions from these extremists (here and abroad). I live in the Bible belt. As I've grown up here I've seen them become more tolerant. I think it's Generational, and I think as more of my Generation (I'm currently 23) come of age and mature alittle you'll see exactly that. But you can't completely root out extremism, and you can't silence ANYTHING in America, and as long as the media is driven by ratings instead of Journalism, and they have people Who what to hear about all "Christian America's" offenses, I'm not sure how that movement or anything else can get rid of them completely. I won't argue that religious institutions haven't become as corrupted if not more so than they were in Jesus's day. It's not about individual churches, it's about these big organizations that are more interested in political influence and the power that comes with it than they do about God's love anymore. But I think these groups are losing their base and are in their Death throws. I think that this country is tired of being divided and is ready to put these things aside for real issues.

Maybe I'm just hopelessly optimistic.

[Beer Snob-50]

30. was it ever determined who was screaming during the prayer?

was it the gallery or was it members of the congress? either way, i am embarrassed as a catholic for their actions.

sorry, if i read the rest of the opening post, my questions would have been answered!