Today's News of the Religious Weird

Today, a Hindu man was scheduled to give the morning invocation for the Senate Chamber. It is in fact the first time that a Hindu prayer has been given in the Senate, and the man who gave it has also given prayers in his state chambers of congress (he's from Nevada).

The chamber was interrupted when three Christian protesters invaded and began shouting slurs. The morning's presiding officer (a Pennsylvania Democrat) ordered them thrown out of course, but their behavior was shameful and cast a pall on the morning that should have been a small celebration of religious freedom in our country. An anti-abortion group has since claimed credit in a press release (check out the group's website, linked from the press release. It pushes the boundaries on comically nuts).

EDIT: The blogosphere's response has generally been eyerolling, but I thought John Scalzi's piece "Jesus Says: Don't Be A Dick" was particularly good.