Diversity Day

In grad school I took a course called "Cross-Cultural Comparisons," or something like that. The point of the class was to emphasize our abilities to learn from and live among each other despite our differences whether they be ethnic, religious, social etc. When I became an army chaplain I learned even more about religious pluralism and how to embrace our differences. As a social worker and chaplain I have got to know men and women who are Christian, Jew, Muslim, Bahai, Native American, Hindu, Buddhist, Pagan, Agnostic, Atheist and so on. So I get excited whenever I hear about Americans embracing religious diversity. Take these two women from Hawaii and one from Illinois:

 

Mazie Hirono made all sorts of history last week when she was elected to the US Senate. She is the first female to be elected a Senator from Hawaii, the first Asian-American woman to be elected to the Senate and the first Buddhist to ever serve as a US Senator and the first Senator born in Japan. Granted she considers herself an ethnic, non-practicing Buddhist but its still cool.

Tulsi Gabbard was born in America Samoa and was elected the US Congress last week. She is a practicing Hindu (and vegetarian) and will be the first member of her faith ever to serve in the House or Senate. She plans on taking the oath of office with her Bhagavad Gita. Like me she enlisted in the army as a medic but unlike me she served two tours to the Middle East. She was later commissioned an officer in the Army National Guard and is currently a captain.There have been some critics of a Hindu serving in congress but she pointed out that there were no objections when a Hindu put on an army uniform and headed to war.

My sibling-in-laws, Ryan and Ann, might be interested in knowing that Captain Gabbard will be joining her fellow Army National Guard officer Lieutenant Colonel Tammy Duckworth in the House of Representatives and together they will be the first female combat veterans to ever serve in Congress. Duckworth is the first person to serve in Congress born in Thailand, her mom was Thai but her dad was American. As you can see she is disabled courtesy of the rocket that hit the helicopter she was piloting in Iraq. She also has the dubious honor of being the first disabled woman to ever serve in Congress.

I love this stuff. I think it is so neat to see such diverse women serving our country in various capacities. The way I figure if I can't accept people like these women then who on earth is going to accept a thinning red-headed, freckle faced, Mormon? With all that said I am always skeptical of anyone serving in the House or Senate but I wish them the best of luck none-the-less.