A Black Eye for Christianity in the Senate

Senate history was made today when a Hindu cleric was invited to give the opening prayer. Some Christian activists decided to make idiots of themselves and give Christianity a black eye in the process:

Three protesters interrupted a Hindu cleric today who became the first from his religion to offer the Senate's opening prayer.

Breitbart.tv has video of Rajan Zed, director of interfaith relations at a Hindu temple in Reno, Nev., preparing to pray when a clear, loud voice came from the Senate gallery.

"Lord Jesus, forgive us, Father, for allowing the prayer of the wicked, which is an abomination in your sight," said a male protester.

The Senate's sergeant at arms was instructed to restore order, but Zed was interrupted again.

"You shall have no other gods before you. … "

Zed, who was invited by Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, finally offered his prepared prayer.

"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," he said. "May he stimulate and illuminate our minds."

Police officers arrested the three protesters and charged them with disrupting Congress, a misdemeanor, the Associated Press reported. The male protester told an AP reporter, "we are Christians and patriots" before officers handcuffed them and led them away.

You are not patriots. You're fools, and you just made Christians look like intolerant boobs. The opening "prayer" in the Senate is basically meaningless, a habit born of tradition and not of faith, and given the way most Senators act, it wouldn't matter if the opening prayer was given by Billy Graham or an African witchdoctor. You're free to dislike the other guy's religion, but protesting and disrupting the Senate is not the way to win converts to yours.