Washington: At least half a dozen lawmakers today boycotted a Hindu prayer invocation at the Idaho State Senate, with one of the leading Senator saying the US was built on the Judeo-Christian concept and he does not want to see it undermined. The boycott happened when Rajan Zed, a Hindu priest from Nevada, offered prayers for invocation of the Senate by reading excerpts from the Holy Gita. "They have a caste system. They worship cows," State Senator Steve Vick told the local Spokesman-Review. Vick, who lead the effort to boycott the Hindu prayer invocation ceremony, said the First Amendment to the US Constitution allows any kind of prayer. At the same time, he argued, he thinks Hindus shouldn't be allowed to open the Senate as the US was "built on the Judeo-Christian not only religion but work ethic, and I don’t want to see that undermined".

Other Senators who boycotted prayers were Bob Nonini, Sheryl Nuxoll, Lori Den Hartog, Jim Rice and Jeff Siddoway. Idaho Senate President Pro-Tem Brent Hill defended his decision to invite Zed to give an invocation as a guest chaplain. "I reviewed the prayer. It did not seem offensive in any way. It refers to deity supreme," he was quoted as saying by the local newspaper. "In my mind, you either believe in religious freedom or you don’t. … We have had Jewish prayers, many denominations of Christian prayers," Zed was quoted as saying by the daily. "Most of them welcomed me. They came out and shook my hand – some of them hugged me. It was good. There are multiple viewpoints. … That is what makes the country great, you know? Different viewpoints," Zed told the local daily. Hinduism is the world's third largest religion, after Christianity and Islam. It is the religion of roughly 80 percent of India's population and has nearly a billion adherents worldwide. There are roughly three million Hindus in the United States.