OPINION:
Democrat Rep. Emanuel Cleaver opened the 117th Congress in a prayer — of sorts — to “the monotheistic god, Brahma, and god known by many names by many different faiths.” And then he wrapped with “amen and a-woman.”
It doesn’t get any clearer than that. With this prayer, Dems are essentially giving the boot to God from government.
From politics.
From America.
Democrats may have not dared to vote to take “God” out of their party platform this year — no doubt, because of the furor and bad press that came when they tried to do that in 2012.
But they moved to remove Him just the same.
Brahma is a the name Hindus turn to when they want to explain creation.
“In order to help him create the universe,” the website Learn Religions wrote, “Brahma gave birth to the 11 forefathers of the human race called ‘Prajapatis’ and the seven great sages or the ‘Saptarishi.’ These children or mindsons of Brahma, who were born out of his mind rather than body, are called the ‘Manasputras.’”
In other words: To pray in the name of Brahma is to mock the God of the Bible — the same God of the Bible the first colonists of this country vowed to glorify; the same God of the Bible the founders of this nation, by and large, recognized as the Creator who gave, and who continues to give, the inalienable rights.
Take out the Judeo-Christian faith from America’s founding, and you take out the idea that rights come from God, not government. You remove the foundation upon which America was built — upon which American Exceptionalism is based.
From the Mayflower Compact: “Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith, and the honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia … “
From the Declaration of Independence — in the words of Thomas Jefferson: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Pray to whomever — pray to whatever — and it’s like praying to nothing.
Or worse.
It’s like petitioning to the devil.
“Dems Quickly Switch to Include ‘God,’ ‘Jerusalem,’” ABC News wrote back in September of 2012, after word leaked about their attempt to remove “God” from their platform.
Democrats 2021 are trying the same thing, only a different route.
Praying to a bunch of gods, so as to include all believers, all faiths, even non-believers and atheists and pagans, is not the way to secure our country’s walk on a godly course. It’s a mock of God. Wrapping with “amen and a-women” is a mock of truth: if amen means “so be it,” then “a-woman” means — nothing.
That this prayer came from the mouth of a Methodist preacher makes the offense all the worse. Shouldn’t he know better?
In America, individuals most certainly have the right to worship as they choose, as they see fit, even whom or what they see fit to choose. But recognizing “Brahma” in the opening prayer for the next Congress, even while ignoring Jesus — even as secularists and atheists and leftists regularly decry any public mention of Christianity’s savior or even of Judeo-Christian principles, despite the founding truths of this country — all that just bodes poorly for the governing compass of this batch of Democrats.
It bodes darkly.
It says simply: God, go away.
And in a country founded on a concept of individual rights coming from God, not government — on biblical teachings and Judeo-Christian ideas — that’s not a good place to be. It’s one thing to be inclusive. It’s another thing to be so inclusive as to make meaningless the act of inclusiveness. It’s another thing to be so inclusive as to become mocking.
With this prayer, that’s exactly what Democrats have done: made meaningless their petition, while mocking God and the founding truths of this nation. Once again, Democrats have found a way to press godlessness into society.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Socialists Don’t Sleep: Christians Must Rise Or America Will Fall,” is available by clicking HERE.
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