Dear friends:

The idea of "one nation under gods" (small g, plural) is repulsive to most Americans, but that is exactly where our brilliant, leadership-challenged U.S. Senate is taking us.  See article below.  Christians and religious Jews would certainly disagree with the idea of multiple "gods," but maybe it is not so far removed from reality considering all the multiple gods and idols worshipped in our society, and how the one God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and God of our fathers is being ignored.  This is just another sign of how far we have gone.

By the way, this is the same Senate that just a few days ago tried and failed to railroad through an amnesty bill for illegal aliens.  Comedian Jay Leno said that the illegal aliens are so upset that the bill failed that they are threatening to go back to their own country.

Jim
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Historian Barton says Hindu prayer before Senate raises concerns
http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/07/historian_barton_says_hindu_pr.php
 
A prominent Christian historian and constitutional expert is expressing concern that the U.S. Senate will be opened up for the first time with a non-monotheistic prayer.
 
On Thursday, a Hindu chaplain from Reno, Nevada, by the name of Rajan Zed is scheduled to deliver the opening prayer in the U.S. Senate. Zed tells the Las Vegas Sun that in his prayer he will likely include references to ancient Hindu scriptures, including Rig Veda, Upanishards, and Bhagavard-Gita. Historians believe it will be the first Hindu prayer ever read at the Senate since it was formed in 1789.
 
WallBuilders president David Barton is questioning why the U.S. government is seeking the invocation of a non-monotheistic god. Barton points out that since Hindus worship multiple gods, the prayer will be completely outside the American paradigm, flying in the face of the American motto "One Nation Under God."
 
"In Hindu, you have not one God, but many, many, many, many, many gods," the Christian historian explains. "And certainly that was never in the minds of those who did the Constitution, did the Declaration [of Independence] when they talked about Creator -- that's not one that fits here because we don't know which creator we're talking about within the Hindu religion."
 
Barton says given the fact that Hindus are a tiny constituency of the American public, he questions the motivation of Senate leaders. "This is not a religion that has produced great things in the world," he observes. "You look at India, you look at Nepal -- there's persecution going in both of those countries that is gendered by the religious belief that is present there, and
Hindu dominates in both of those countries."
 
And while Barton acknowledges there is not constitutional problem with a Hindu prayer in the Senate, he wonders about the political side of it. "One definitely wonders about the pragmatic side of it," he says. "What is the message, and why is the message needed? And will it actually communicate anything other than engender with folks like me a lot of questions?"
 
Barton says he knows of at least seven cases where Christians have lost their bid to express their own faith in a public prayer.
 
Zed is reportedly the first Hindu to deliver opening prayers in an American state legislature, having done so in both the Nevada State Assembly and Nevada State Senate earlier this year. He has stated that Thursday's prayer will be "universal in approach," despite being drawn from Hindu religious texts.