News for May 2008
Rabbi: Christian Right hijacks Day of Prayer
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press
Friday, May 2, 2008.
By NORMAN SHOAF
Valley Press Religion Editor
LANCASTER – “There is no faith unless it is interfaith,” Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak told a gathering of approximately 60 listeners Thursday evening at the Antelope Valley Interfaith Council National Day of Prayer Service at the Antelope Valley Church at the Center of Light .
By turns cordial and confrontational, keynote speaker Beliak praised Valley efforts at religious inclusion – and condemned what he called the hijacking of the National Day of Prayer by the Christian Right.
Beliak is a leader of the organization JewsOnFirst, whose proclaimed mission is to protect the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and lobby for an inclusive National Day of Prayer.
“How can National Day of Prayer leaders have their day year after year when they exclude all but fundamentalist Christians?” Beliak said. “God speaks in many languages, nationalities and cultures. This is a wonderful banquet.
“You’re not here to convert me, and I’m not here to convert you,” Beliak said of the multiple religions represented at the fifth annual event. “But are you an honest representation of God’s love.”
Edited: May 2nd, 2008
