Prayer Comes In Many Flavors at the State House

Posted on February 4th, 2010 by JewishByte

JewishByte Baltimore – By Len Lazarick

Did you hear the story about the rabbi and the swami?

Actually it wasn’t a rabbi, as the story was first told, but a celibate swami who asked for help in keeping his distance from the women in the Senate chamber last week. Since Maryland Senate officials wouldn’t accommodate him, the Hindu swami sent a deputy to chant the opening prayer in the chamber Wednesday.

For the first time, the proceedings were opened with ancient prayers chanted in Sanskrit by a Hindu priest.

“I think we’re all better for that experiment,” said Senate President Mike Miller. “We have to understand and appreciate all cultures.”

The two chambers of the General Assembly handle their opening prayers differently, but both tread lightly and work creatively as they look to balance the spirituality of their members, the diversity of the population and the separation of church and state.

This state was the home of Madelyn Murray O’Hair in 1960 when she sued the Baltimore City Public School System; it became a lead case in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that eliminated prayer in public schools. But Maryland’s elected leaders invoke God on a daily basis.

“I’ve prayed more in the Senate in the last three years than I have in the whole rest of my life,” said first-term Sen. Jamie Raskin of Takoma Park. When he’s not legislating, Raskin is a professor of constitutional law at American University specializing in First Amendment issues.

For the full article please visit MarylandReporter.com HERE.