First Buddhists elected to Congress

Wisdom Quarterly; Marco Garcia (AP); The Washington Post; RNS; Deseret News

US Senate, Washington, DC (peacecorpsconnect.org)

Colleen Hanabusa, right, congratulates Tulsi Gabbard after both women won their Hawaii Congressional district seats, Japanese Cultural Center, Honolulu (AP/Marco Garcia).

 

Senator Colleen Hanabusa (THR)

There were a lot of firsts in faith during the 2012 election season according to The Washington Post and some firsts in Congress. Among them are the election of a Buddhist to the Senate and a Hindu to the House, which will help make those chambers more accurately reflect the increasingly diverse religious landscape of the United States.
 

Tulsi Gabbard (chakranews.com)

Democrat Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii was elected, succeeding Representative Mazie K. Hirono, who ran for the US Senate. An Iraq War veteran, Gabbard was born in American Samoa to a Hindu mother and a Catholic father and had served on the Honolulu City Council and in the state Legislature. Whereas California used to lead the way with firsts, now [the MIC is using] Hawaii has taken that distinction farther west.

I don't know how we lost in an Ayn Rand world.

Hirono, who is Japanese and Buddhist, was also elected on Tuesday. In 2006, she and Georgia Democrat Hank Johnson, who is African-American, were the first Buddhists elected to Congress.
  
In 2010, Buddhist Colleen Hanabusa, a Democrat from Hawaii, was elected. She will become the first Buddhist senator when the new Congress convenes in January, Religion News Service reported yesterday.

• More firsts elected to Congress
• The "Nones" are a political force

On the Darker Side

On the tragic side, Monsanto Corporation won its preposterous bid (Proposition 37) to continue keeping secret when its genetically-manipulated human-experiment grains and organisms are sold as food to the general population of California (and the rest of the world. Food insecure Russians no longer accept their corn, prompting the European Union to take another look at their policy).
  

Christian fundamentalist candidate Bachmann

And an anti-sex trafficking bill (Proposition 35) on steroids passed, perverting one of the most important causes of all to further the police state. And former Republican presidential candidate hopeful Michelle "Crazy Eyes" Bachmann and Romney running mate Paul Ryan (shown above) were re-elected, even as they failed in their other bids.

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Hindu Chaplain Shouted Down in U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three protesters disrupted a prayer by a Hindu chaplain on Thursday at the opening of a U.S. Senate hearing, calling it an abomination and shouting slogans about Jesus Christ. It was the first time the daily prayer that opens Senate proceedings was said by a Hindu chaplain. They shouted "No Lord but Jesus Christ" and "There's only one true God," and used the term "abomination."

James: One man was heard saying, "Lord Jesus forgive us for allowing the prayer of the wicked."

Barry Lynn, executive director of religious watchdog group Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the protest showed the intolerance of the "religious right."

"I don't think the Senate should open with prayers, but if it's going to happen, the invocations ought to reflect the diversity of the American people," Lynn said in a statement.

James: I agree with Mr. Lynn. This is just sad. It is my prayer that someday those people who interrupted this man's prayer will awaken to the Oneness of all beings--and religions. It is my belief that the core of most religions reflect the same Universal Truths such as love, peace and compassion for the poor and homeless.

However, we should also have love and compassion for the rich and intolerant as well. They deserve our love too, as hard as that might be for us--and it is hard for me quite often. So tonight I am trying my best to let my ego subside and douse the flames of the intolerance from these protesters with love and compassion. Easier said then done but it is possible because that is the reality--we are all one.

P.S.~I just love Ganesh. He is my favorite Hindu deity. I collect all sorts of images of him. I have a really nice Ganesh statue as well.

~Peace to all beings~

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