Ganesha and the GOP
The disruption in the Senate yesterday—interruptions of the opening prayer, led by a Hindu priest for the first time—was carried out by a Christianist group called “Operation Save America” [sic]. H/t to Daylight Atheism, who suggested that “a rotating, non-preferential prayer schedule” comprised of all faiths (and non-faiths) of the citizenry:
…would serve many valuable purposes. It would be a powerful symbolic reminder that America has no official religion, and that all citizens are equal under the law regardless of their choice of faith. It would reaffirm the freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution and show that we are all represented by the government that our votes put into power. And last but not least, it would be a stinging rebuke to the Christian right, and that can only be a good thing. Their impotent, whining temper tantrums make it exceedingly clear that they think they have the god-given right to lord it over everyone else, and the more obvious that is to the American people, the more we can expect people to turn away from their agenda of theocracy and intolerance.
Despite my reluctance to endorse taxpayer-funded prayer, I’m inclined to agree. PZ Myers takes the opposite approach in “Good ol’ Christian tolerance,” writing that “the only fair response to all this is simply to stop the magic incantations to any deity in our government:”
Let the senators who feel a need say a quiet prayer on their own, without dragging everyone into their personal superstition. And let's chide any senators who complain about that for the weakness of their faith, that they can't even pray without someone at the front of the room to help them out.
Vjack at Atheist Revolution concurs, and CarpetbaggerReport slams the Christianist hypocrisy in “So much for religion in the public square:”
They want more religion in the public square, just so long as it’s their religion. They want more people praying, just so long as it’s their prayer. They want Big Government to do more to promote the importance of faith, just so long as it’s their faith.
Maybe the right-wing protestors would be a little more tolerant of others if the Hindu elephant-god Ganesha
were red, white, and blue—in other words, more like this idol:
