Before we get into what happened last Friday in Congress, and the crazy reaction it provoked, permit me to quickly set the stage for you.
One of the first things that the US House does to initiate the proceedings for the day is to have a Chaplin make a public religious invocation. It’s a tradition and has been there since the beginning. Initially it was done by a Chaplin who has been chosen by congress to do this each day, but over time it evolved into an invocation where they also now invite guest Chaplins as well.
While the practice is rooted in tradition, its constitutionality has been debated – Hint: “Separation of Church and State“. This has now brought us to the position where not only Christian Chaplins are invited, but also an occasional non-Christian Chaplin. In other words, it should really be a place for all beliefs (and also none) if it is to truly represent the entire nation.
OK, all that is a bit of background context for you. Let’s now move on to what happened last Friday.
Giani Surinder Singh’s Invocation
Last Friday, June 6th, Giani Surinder Singh opened the Day’s US House proceedings with a prayer, and the fact that he was not a Christian Chaplin, triggered one representative …
You win no prizes for guessing that she is Republican.
However, you do indeed win a prize for working out that not only is she being a raging bigot, but is also manifesting what can be described as spherical 3D stupidity – that’s stupidity that remains stupid no matter what angle you view it from.
“Christian Nation”
OK, let’s first address this one. What is very obvious is that she is lying – the US was not founded as a Christian Nation.
We all know the truth . While many founding fathers were indeed Christian, many others were just deists or something else. Anybody touting the “Founded as a Christian Nation” myth is lying, or is just deeply stupid (or perhaps both). A great deal has been covered by many on this. It is a well-established fact, and no matter how many times they close their eyes, click their ruby red slippers together as they dream of dragging us all to the Republic of Gilead, reality, much to their great frustration, just sits tight and refuses to cooperate.
The Constitution, a document that the Trump administration has opted to ignore on a daily basis, is deeply secular and does not mention Christianity or any other religion. But hey, if you are reading this, then you most probably know this and don’t need me to explain it. The issue is that those that pretend to read only one book, but probably read none at all tend to be those that believe the myth popularised by well-known grifter and pseudo historian David Barton.
Who?
He is the guy that does the rounds within evangelical circles promoting the “Founded as a Christian Nation” mythology.
In 2012 he published a book titled “The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths You’ve Always Believed About Thomas Jefferson“. It was popular with those that needed this modern mythology to be factual, but ended up being recognised as “the least credible history book in print” by the users of the History News Network website. A group of ten conservative Christian professors also reviewed the work and reported negatively on its claims, saying that Barton misstated facts about Jefferson. They were being polite – he basically made stuff up and then claimed it as “truth”.
Oh, and let’s not forget that his Christian publisher pulled the plug on it and withdrew the book when they found out. Hat tip to them for having some integrity.
The book itself was picked up and published by WND (Wing-nut Daily), and so the promotion of the myth continued.
Net impact – we now have deeply ignorant elected representatives.
Oh but wait, I’ve saved the best bit until now.
Rep Mary Miller was “deeply troubled that a Muslim was allowed to lead Prayer“.
So the kicker here is this …
Giani Surinder Singh is not a Muslim
Nor is he Hindu, but instead he is a Sikh.
The actual invocation was completely inclusive and wholly appropriate for the occasion. As described by one commentator, here is how it played out …
His remarks were inclusive and in line with what most other guest chaplains say when they have this opportunity. Singh asked for the “universal creator God” to keep His “divine hand over… this House.” He called on members to use sound judgment and love and to “create a more peaceful world.”
His only “crime” here is that he is not white.
It is perhaps not a shock to discover that Rep Mary (I Love Hitler) Miller, would do this.
Hitler … really?
Yes really, see here.
Reactions
As is inevitable, the usual fanatically religious trolls crawled out from under their bridges and proceeded to wave their digital clubs in vigorous agreement …
The fact that Sikhism does not have a concept of the devil, or Satan as does Christianity, does not in any way bother any of these people … ever.
Here is another …
Nope, sorry Dale, it is not Hinduism, and it does not involve “Demon worship”. However, since we are on the topic, it can also be argued that Dale’s devotion to his orange messiah does actually qualify as demon worship.
Beyond the crazy fanatics, many others have responded to this as they should, and that is very encouraging.
… just to be wholly clear, this next guy is an elected Republican representative …
What is sadly true is that there are way too many intolerant bigots, people who are 100% sure that only their specific variation of belief is the true one, hence all other beliefs need to be oppressed, persecuted, and gagged. For these people, tolerance for all is very weirdly considered to be oppression.
Secularism is about freedom for all, and that includes freedom for total assholes. The choice is simple and obvious – either we have one specific state endorsed religion and all others can take a hike, or we have freedom for all. Many may indeed endorse the idea os the US becoming a religious state, however if we are truly going to get into the game of picking a state religion, then the choice is obvious. Catholicism is the biggest. I’m not exactly convinced that the evangelical fanatics would be all that thrilled to live in a state where the “Holy” Mother Church rules and deems them to be heretics.
Such a move would become a cue for all those wonderful religious wars that the Europeans enjoyed in past centuries – oh happy times.
A few Final Thoughts
We are far far better off without any invocations within the US House, it would be better to simply do away with it.
I’m also pragmatic enough to realise that we are not mature enough for that, there would never be enough votes to agree, so this will continue to bubble away triggering the occasional fanatic who is deeply offended that something that is not their variation of belief got a slot.
As for Rep Mary Miller, she may indeed have deleted her tweet, but this total (insert your favourite profane epithet here) has not apologised. All she has actually done is to demonstrate that she does not believe is religious freedom.