Will They Take a Stance on Extremists?

About three weeks ago, a trio of self-proclaimed Christian protestors interrupted the invocation prayer of the Senate that was being led (for the first time ever) by a Hindu priest named Rajan Zed. The protestors were quickly removed from the chamber and Zed managed to complete his prayer within the allotted time (less than two minutes) but the ramifications of the incident are still creating ripples like a stone thrown in a calm pond. Although the majority of people across the country are likely ignorant of the fact that this speech even took place, it seems that there have been protests and complaints popping up from both sides of the arguement.

When Harry Reid (a Democrat from Nevada) announced that he had invited Zed, a Hindu priest from his home state of Nevada, to give the invocation prayer in the Senate, there was a stirring in the extremely conservative portions of the nation. They felt, and quite wrongly I might add, that this was just another step in the ruination of this country. They felt that the founding fathers of this nation founded the country 'Under God' and not multiple Gods as in the Hindu pantheon and so this was flying in the face of the establishing principles of this nation. To quote the protestors, this was considered an abomination against God. Their God.

Now that the prayer has taken place and the protests have occured, Hindu practicioners across the nation are calling for their Senators and representatives and the candidates for President to take a stand on this issue. They are calling for them to condemn the protests and state that this flies in the face of the founding principles of this country. Seeking freedom from religious persecution? Come to the new world. Isn't that what the founding fathers did? I seem to remember that there is a stipulation of separation of church and state. I guess that means any other church that doesn't fall within the Christian religion. At least this is what those against the Hindu prayer will have you believe.

It's interesting to me that candidates and incumbents are being put on the spot and are being asked to take a stand. It's something that seems to fly in the face of being a politician. Especially these days. When you have politicians lying under oath (both Democrats and Republicans) and perjuring themselves. When you have candidates who flip flop on issues, do people actually think that they will take a stand on whether or not the protest of a Hindu prayer was wrong? To a group of Hindus they may proclaim that they are appalled by the actions of the protestors. To a group of Christian conservatives they may proclaim that this is just another example of how the excess of freedom given to other religions is eroding the religious identity of this nation.

I personally think that it's a load of crap to expect them to take a stand. Take a look at the protests behind Mitt Romney and the fact that he is Mormon. So what? If he is a good leader, if he has a strong head on his shoulders and seems as if he is a good candidate for president, why shouldn't he run? The fundamental problem here is the fact that unfortunately, for all our talk in America for being tolerant and understanding and the nation of the free, there is still a majority of the population that clings to the ideas and ideals of 1807 as opposed to 2007. Raised on fixed ideas and misconceptions perpetuated from generation to generation, these misguided souls believe that the problems of this nation are by those who are outside of their belief system.

The truth is that this continued misconception and misunderstanding is exactly what is preventing us from continuing forward. The Democrats have a slew of candidates right now and none of them is really a front runner as far as I'm concerned. This country is not ready for a woman president so you can take Hillary Clinton out of the running. We are definitely not ready for an African-American president so remove Obama as well. Romney's a Mormon and so the stigma attached to that takes him out and so basically you're left with a bunch of other candidates who have nothing really going for them other than their religion. Isn't that what it all boils down to in the end? We have a President in office right now who has already proclaimed that he answers to a 'Higher Father'. Had a non-Christian leader ever made such a statement, the nation would have been in an uproar.

There is a quote in Islam that says something along the lines of 'there is only one God, and Mohammed is His prophet'. That being said, I guess we can alter our Constitution and fundamental beliefs to state that 'there is only one God and He is Christian'. As a rule of ettiquette you are generally told to refrain from two topics when you are meeting some new group of people for the first time and those topics are politics in religion. It seems that most politicians follow that guideline all the time these days. Have them protest the protest of a Hindu prayer? There's a snowball's chance in Hell of that happening.