Hindu Prayers in the Halls of Congress

Everyday in the halls of Congress, in the Senate especially, a prayer is given before the start of each day's session. Today, "history" was made because the first Hindu prayer was given by Rajan Zed, who is an interfaith director at a Hindu temple in Reno, Nevada. He was invited by Senator Harry Reid, D-Nevada.

Some protesters made quite a ruckus in the gallery while the prayer was made, and Harry Reid, a Mormon, defended his choice to invite Zed by saying these two things (go here for the story):

"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."

Which of course makes all Indians and Hindus ever peaceful, right? Let's forget about violence between Hindus and Muslims or violence of Hindus against Christians, right?

"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."

Now, as Frank Turk correctly comments, "Here we have a Mormon defending a Hindu as if either of them believes in the same god."

Here, a Mormon who believes in a monotheistic God (though that view is warped and false) defends the prayer of a pantheistic Hindu, who prays to an abstract "Deity Supreme," as if they're playing on the same team? Does anything in that prayer even suggest that the Hindu was praying to "our heavenly Father"?

But the best part of the article? The quote by the director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, in response to the protesters, saying it "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."

(I'm convinced that the AP has that guy on their speed dial for these stories, because he always seems to be quoted in such religious "equality" or tolerance situations.)

As a lawyer, I understand the idea of religious freedom and free speech--but the real problem going on here is the muddling of the truth. It's not a matter of tolerance but intolerance.

We are told to accept other faiths into the public square while being told to throw away any ideas of there being only one way to heaven which is through Christ. God and Allah are not the same, and neither are God and the Supreme Deity that the Hindu spoke of the same.