Freedom of religion/Freedom from religion

For the first time in our nation’s history, a Hindu issued today’s Senate Morning Prayer. While I think the prayer tradition is contradictory to Church/State separation, it is the kind of ritual that I can live with. Congresspersons are adults and they are free to choose to participate so whatever. And I must say, I think that having other religions represented in such a fashion symbolically reinforces the Constitutional principle of religious freedom. Proudly highlighting our national tolerance and acceptance can only be good and healthy.

What I found truly appalling about today’s events, however, was a bunch of Christian zealot yahoos that disrupted the prayer with slogans about heresy and the like. Even more ridiculous, the organization behind this protest took issue with Hinduism’s polytheism, as though it is some whacko cult. WTF? There is like a billion Hindus on this planet. By that standard alone, Hinduism is at least as legitimate a religion as the Southern Baptist Convention. These idiots ought to be mortified by their behavior. Protest all you want but be civil and respectful during the prayer and don’t try to shout the guy down.

(Sidebar - This reminds me of the genius rejoinder Gandhi (who was educated in England) once delivered to a moron journalist. The reporter, assuming the Indian leader had never left the Subcontinent, asked him what he thought of Western Civilization. Gandhi said he thought it would be a good idea.)

Anyway, imagine for just a moment if the roles were reversed. What if a group of Hindu activists pulled this same garbage while a Christian delivered the prayer – fire and motherfucking brimstone for sure. The religious nuts would be organizing hunting parties with Indians as the quarry. Pat Robertson would demand that we nuke New Delhi and Bill O’Reilly would call for the boycott all things Tandoori (BTW – my personal fave).

The Constitution says that we are free to practice the religion of our choosing (or none at all for that matter) without fear of reprisal or oppression. Fat Mike from NOFX summarized America’s primary religious attitude brilliantly: I don’t fuck with you, don’t fuck with me. The wingnuts want us to forget that. They want to exchange our republic for their theocracy. Those jerks in the Senate probably share that goal. It is incumbent on the rest of us to thwart those ambitions.

Here ends today’s sermon.