BP News, TN
07-19-07
CULTURE DIGEST: Hindu prayer in Senate defies nation's founding, some say
by Erin Roach
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Some Americans took offense when a Hindu chaplain
led the morning prayer in the United States Senate July 12 because they said it
defied the Judeo Christian heritage set forth by the nation's founders.
"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," Rajan Zed, director of interfaith relations
at a Hindu temple in Reno, Nev., said in his prayer.
Zed was the first Hindu to offer a Senate prayer since the formation of the
governing body in 1789, and he was invited by Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid, D.-Nev. But Zed was not the first Hindu to pray in Congress. That
distinction belongs to a Hindu priest who prayed before the House in 2000. Also,
a Muslim prayed before the Senate several years ago.
"If people have any misunderstanding about Indians and Hindus, all they have to
do is think of Gandhi," a man "who gave his life for peace," Reid said.
Most conservatives acknowledged the prayer was constitutional but said it went
against the nation's monotheistic foundation.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, noted that "prayer
before legislative debates or meetings dates back to June 27, 1787 when the
Constitutional Convention meeting in Philadelphia was at a standstill."
"Ben Franklin, the eldest member at the Convention at the age of 81, stood and
said, 'I've lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I
see of this truth: That God governs in the affairs of men. If a sparrow cannot fall
to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His
aid?'" Perkins wrote in his Washington Update July 12.
"No one can legitimately challenge the fact that the God America refers to in the
pledge, our national motto, and other places is the monotheistic God of the
Jewish and Christian faith," Perkins added. "There is no historic connection
between America and the polytheistic creed of Hinduism."
Perkins noted that the prayer is more than a ceremony, "although many may
treat it as such."
EPISCOPAL PRIEST SUSPENDED OVER ISLAM CLAIMS -- The female
Episcopal priest who claims she also is a Muslim has been suspended from the
priesthood and other Episcopal leadership roles for a year, according to the
dioceses that ordained her 23 years ago.
Ann Holmes Redding has been ordered to "reflect on the doctrines of the
Christian faith, her vocation as a priest, and what I see as the conflicts inherent in
professing both Christianity and Islam," Geralyn Wolf, bishop of the Diocese of
Rhode Island, wrote in an e-mail to church leaders, according to the Associated
Press.
For the next year, Wolf said Redding "is not to exercise any of the responsibilities
and privileges of an Episcopal priest or deacon," and Redding gave up her
priest's collar. At the end of a year, the two will again discuss the matter to
determine whether Redding should leave the priesthood permanently.
R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary,
addressed the issue on his weblog July 9.
"No one knows where this will lead, but many observers were surprised by
Bishop Wolf's action," Mohler wrote at albertmohler.com. "For now, the action
appears to send an errant priest into a clerical equivalent of a child's 'time out'
punishment. She has time to think about her theological convictions and future as
an Episcopal priest.
"Give Bishop Wolf credit for taking action and for recognizing the fundamental
nature of Rev. Redding's misunderstanding," Mohler added. "However, given the
depth of Rev. Redding's heretical mischaracterization of the Christian faith, action
should have been taken long ago."
PROFESSOR APPEALS TENURE DENIAL AGAIN -- Guillermo Gonzalez, an
astronomy professor at Iowa State University, is appealing his denial of
tenure to the school's board of regents after his first appeal was rejected by the
university president.
In what some are saying is a clear case of discrimination against a scientist
based on his support of Intelligent Design, Gonzalez has vowed to fight the
denial for the sake of those who might face similar criticism in the future.
"Gonzalez' tenure denial is clearly a result of the vicious attacks he's had to
endure from Darwinists and various atheists for presenting a scientific argument
for the intelligent design of the universe based on the empirical evidence from
physics and astronomy," John West, associate director of Discovery Institute's
Center for Science & Culture, said in a news release July 11.
"It should be noted Gonzalez' book does not discuss the evidence for design in
biology, and thus it does not deal with Darwin's theory of evolution, but that
hasn't spared Gonzalez from persecution," West added.
Iowa State President Gregory Geoffroy rejected Gonzalez' first appeal May 31,
saying the professor "simply did not show the trajectory of excellence that we
expect in a candidate seeking tenure in physics and astronomy."
Gonzalez has exceeded by 350 percent his department's standard for research
excellence through peer-reviewed scientific articles, Discovery Institute said, and
several co-workers have admitted animosity toward Gonzalez based on his
Intelligent Design beliefs.
"In short, the claim that ID had nothing to do with Gonzalez' tenure denial at ISU
is preposterous," West said.
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