Follow-Ups

by Danny Fisher

In a post from two weeks ago, I discussed the interruption of guest chaplain Rajan Zed’s prayer at the United States Senate on July 12th. In response to the incident, Hindu organizations are asking 2008 presidential candidates and senators to condemn the hateful protest of Chaplain Zed’s benediction. The Washington Post reports:

    Although the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington issued a statement July 17 saying its members were “deeply saddened” by the interruption, no senators present spoke out against it publicly, according to the Hindu American Foundation and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (I.S.K.C.O.N.).

    Both organizations said they are disappointed with the legislators, and they sent letters this week to presidential candidates and senators, asking them to condemn the incident.

    “We call on you to follow the example set by [Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)] and take a stance in defense of religious freedom and equality, in the face of opposition from extremists and fundamentalists,” the I.S.K.C.O.N. letter said.

    [...]

    Although there were only three protesters, said Ishani Chowdhury, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, “if you look at it as a reflection of a larger number of people . . . we need people to condemn what happened and highlight the need for dialogue.”

I’ll have more on this as it develops.


In another post, one from April and on a different subject, I blogged about the accusations of anti-semitism, anti-Catholicism, and other prejudices lodged against the former director of the spiritual ministry department at the National Institutes of Health (N.I.H.) at Bethesda, MD. This story too has developed further. The Post reports:
    A bipartisan group of House members is trying to force Health and Human Services [(H.H.S.)] Secretary Mike Leavitt to order an inspector general’s investigation into allegations of religious bias and mismanagement at the spiritual ministry department in the [N.I.H.].

    [...]

    Two chaplains filed complaints with the Equal Opportunity Commission, and a third is suing H.H.S., all alleging that N.I.H. officials retaliated against them when they spoke up, inventing reasons to terminate them.

    This month, H.H.S. brought in outside experts to conduct a review of the department. But, in a letter this month to Leavitt, 14 House members rejected that probe as inadequate, saying that they had not received assurances from N.I.H. that it would look into the conduct of the former head of the spiritual ministry department, the Rev. O. Ray Fitzgerald.

    [...]

    Rep. Steven R. Rothman (D-N.J.), who serves on the House Appropriations Committee, has inserted language into the Department of Labor-H.H.S. appropriations bill, which was approved last week by the full House, authorizing an investigation of the department by the inspector general.

    “I have no confidence in their internal review,” Rothman said this week. “It is just outrageous that the N.I.H. could be tolerant of this kind of bigotry in its own ranks and in its own building.”

    In its statement, H.H.S. defended its investigation, saying that a working group of the N.I.H. Advisory Board for Clinical Research conducted a detailed and independent review of the spiritual ministry department, including its management and oversight. The group’s draft report is due in September, the statement said.

    But a particular focus of House members’ ire is Fitzgerald, a Methodist minister who remains on the staff of the chaplain’s department. Fitzgerald did not return calls for comment.

    “While Rev. Fitzgerald has been replaced as Director of the Spiritual Ministry Department, we were distressed to learn that he is still employed by N.I.H. as a chaplain,” said the letter to Leavitt, dated July 9. It was signed by Rothman and, among others, Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). “We do not believe that the N.I.H. management has acted sufficiently to remedy this serious matter,” the letter said.

    Rothman also questioned why Fitzgerald had a prominent role at an N.I.H. ceremony last week honoring U.S. Public Health Service employees. Fitzgerald gave the invocation and the benediction, according to the program and N.I.H. employees who were present.

    “It is outrageous, and, to me, it indicates to me a monumental lack of judgment on the part of the people at the N.I.H…and a slap in the face to Congress,” Rothman said.

Again, when I know more about this, so will you.