Is USA a neutral or a religious Nation
? - Over the years, numerous scholars,
historians, lawyers, and judges have debunked the “Christian nation” myth. Yet
it persists. Does it have any basis in American history? Why is the myth so
powerful? What psychological need does it fill?
The Text of the Constitution does Not Say the United States Is a
Christian Nation.
George Washington is the author of one
of the great classics of religious liberty—the letter to Touro Synagogue
(1790). In this letter, Washington assures America’s Jews that they would enjoy
complete religious liberty—not mere toleration—in the new nation. He outlines a
vision not of a Christian nation but of a multi-faith society where all are
free to practice as they will !
Immediately after returning from
India, where President Barack Obama was the Chief guest in Republic Day parade,
said religious intolerance in India
would have shocked Mahatma Gandhi. In his National Prayer Breakfast address in
Washington, Mr. Obama said that India was “full of magnificent diversity – but
a place where, in past years, religious faiths of all types have, on occasion,
been targeted by other peoples of faith, simply due to their heritage and their
beliefs.”
Before
delivering sermons to India, it would appropriate to keep their house in order
– there have been attacks in Hindu places of worship – now here is some more
news from Idaho. Here is a report that
appeared in The Hindu today : For the
first time the opening prayer for the Idaho state senate was said on Tuesday by
a Hindu cleric amid protests by some senators who claimed the United States was
a Christian nation and denounced Hinduism, local media reported. Universal Society of Hinduism president Rajan Zed, who
said the prayer in Sanskrit and English, made a call for the legislators to
“act selflessly without any thought of personal profit” because “selfish action
imprisons the world.”
He was invited by
Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill to be a guest chaplain and deliver the
invocation which is usually made by a Christian chaplain at the start of the
day’s legislative session in Boise. According to The Idaho Statesman, when
protests were made before the session, Mr. Hill said: “I reviewed the prayer.
It did not seem offensive in any way.” He added: “It refers to ‘deity
supreme’.” Senator Steve Vick, who walked out of the Senate chamber before Mr.
Zed’s invocation said that Hindu prayers should not be allowed because the U.S.
was “built on the Judeo-Christian, not only religion, but work ethic, and I
don’t want to see that undermined”, the Statesman reported. Hindus “have a
caste system,” he added. “They worship cows.”
He was one of the
three Republican senators to boycott the prayer. Senator Sheryl Nuxoll said she
boycotted Mr. Zed’s prayer because she believed the United States is a
Christian nation and “Hindu is a false faith with false gods,” according to the
newspaper. But Mr. Hill, who is also a Republican, told the Statesman, “In my
mind, you either believe in religious freedom or you don’t... We have had
Jewish prayers, many denominations of Christian prayers.”
The Statesman quoted Mr. Zed as saying of the protests: “We don’t mind.
Hinduism is more embracing.” KTVB-TV said that Mr. Zed noted “that most
of the legislators welcomed him warmly” and said, “We all have different
viewpoints, and that is wonderful, that is what makes our country great.” He
added: “We are all looking for the truth. If we can join our resources
together, we can reach there faster.” Senators from both the Republican Party,
which controls the Senate, and the Democratic Party shook the saffron-clad Mr.
Zed’s hand and thanked him for coming, the Statesman said.
The U.S. does not
have an official religion and the secular constitution prescribes strict
separation of religion and state. However, federal and state legislatures open
their sessions with prayers, even though prayers are prohibited in government
schools because of the constitutional injunction. In 2000, Venkatachalapathi
Samuldrala of Shiva Hindu Temple in Parma, Ohio, made the opening invocation in
the House of Representatives in Washington. Mr. Zed said the opening prayers at
the federal Senate in 2007 when it was disrupted by protesters from the public
gallery.
Idaho borders
Washington State, where two Hindu temples were vandalised last month. The
second attack occurred the same week that an influential Christian
fundamentalist preacher, Pat Robertson, said on his TV show that Hindu prayer
“sounds like gibberish.” A former candidate for the Republican Party’s
presidential nomination, he had earlier called Hinduism “demonic.”
