Outrage after Republican representative disparages Sikh prayer in the US House
By: Maya Yang (the Guardian)
Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there!
He wasn't there again today,
I wish, I wish he'd go away!
When I came home last night at three,
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall,
I couldn't see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don't you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don't slam the door... (slam!)
Last night I saw upon the stair,
A little man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
Oh, how I wish he'd go away....
For those who don't understand what this is really about, Rep. Mary Miller proposed replacing Pride Month with Family Month. Naturally the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Democratic base are infuriated, incensed, and generally outraged. (Which seems to be a normal state of affairs within the Democratic Party.)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A Republican congresswoman is facing widespread backlash after saying that a Sikh should not have conducted a prayer in the US House.
Mary Miller, an Illinois representative, on Friday published - then deleted - a post on X saying that Giani Singh, a Sikh Granthi from southern New Jersey, should not have delivered the House's morning prayer.
Miller at first mistakenly identified Singh as a Muslim and said that it was "deeply troubling" someone of that faith had been allowed to lead prayer in the House and it "should never have been allowed", Miller posted on X.
"America was founded as a Christian nation, and I believe our government should reflect that truth, not drift further from it," Miller continued. "May God have mercy."
Miller first edited her post to change Muslim to Sikh - then opted to delete it.
Her comments triggered swift outrage, with the Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, saying: "It's deeply troubling that such an ignorant and hateful extremist is serving in the United States Congress. That would be you, Mary."
Similarly, David Valadao, a Republican congressman of California, said on Friday: "I'm troubled by my colleague's remarks about this morning's Sikh prayer, which have since been deleted. Throughout the country - and in the Central Valley - Sikh-Americans are valued and respected members of our communities, yet they continue to face harassment and discrimination."
Jared Huffman, another Democratic US House member from California, wrote on X: "I often say that I serve in Congress with some of the greatest minds of the 18th century. With [representative] Miller I may need to take it back a few more centuries."
Meanwhile, the Democratic congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey said on X: "It's deeply troubling that someone with such contempt for religious freedom is allowed to serve in this body. This should have never been allowed to happen. America was founded as free nation, and I believe the conduct of its legislators should reflect that truth, not drift further from it."
Grace Meng, a Democratic congresswoman from New York, also weighed in on Miller's tweets, saying: "What's deeply disturbing is the blatant ignorance and anti-Sikh, anti-Muslim xenophobia coming from my colleague across the aisle. There is no place in our country, and especially the halls of Congress, for this hate and intolerance."
Meng went on to add: "The tweet may have been deleted, but we still have the receipts."
The Congressional Asian Pacific American caucus (Capac) also condemned Miller, saying she had engaged in "anti-Sikh and anti-Muslim bigotry".
"Sikhs and Muslims practice two separate and distinct religions, and conflating the two based on how someone looks is not only ignorant, but also racist," Capac said in a statement.
The Sikh Coalition also responded on X, saying: "To be clear, deleting the tweet is not enough. Congresswoman Miller should apologize for her remarks - to both the Sikh and Muslim communities, because no one should be targeted on the basis of their identity."
Similarly, the Hindu American Foundation said: "Whichever version of the tweet [Miller] was going with, it is racist, xenophobic and plainly un-American to lash out over a Sikh prayer. When you took your oath of office [congresswoman] Miller, you swore to uphold our constitution, whose first amendment prohibits your establishing an official religion or favoring one religion over another."
Miller's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Guardian.
Tags
Who is online
273 visitors
Democrats want to get their freak on. If Republicans stand in the way, Democrats will take perverse pleasure in chasing little men who aren't on the stairs. Watch that first step and mind the gap, boys and girls.
[✘] knock yourself out
Those who lean conservative need a safe space to discuss the issue. It's called equity.
Miller provided proof of Forrest Gump's comment "Stupid is as stupid does". I wonder what would happen if a Buddhist were to quote Confucius in the House.
So, another rightwing religious conservative acting like a rightwing religious conservative. Why am I not surprised.
SWING and a miss.
Actually the United States was founded as a Judeo-Christian nation. The founding of the United States was not founded upon the spiritual beliefs or moral principles of any other theology. Human rights were endowed by a Judeo-Christian God. The manifest destiny of the fledgling United States was guided by Judeo-Christian belief in the dominion of men.
That is demonstrably false! The US us a secular nation with a religiously neutral government. The Constitution makes no mention of our founding being religious in the least. Even the Founding Fathers affirmed that.
Then demonstrate it. A nation founded upon the Judeo-Christian traditions and beliefs of Great Britain doesn't need to be a theocracy. England was not a theocracy even though the monarch was titular head of the church. The United Kingdom is a secular government with a national church.
"The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion." --- Treaty of Tripoli, Article 11, unanimously ratified by the Senate.
"It will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service had any interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the inspiration of heaven....It will forever be acknowledged that these governments were contrived merely by the use of reason and the senses." --- John Adams, In Defense of the Constitutions of the United States of America,1787.
Also consider the Constitution itself does not establish or reference any religion ideology.